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National  Series  of  Standard  School  Books, 


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A  COURSE  OF  MATHEMATICS, 

BY  CHARLES  DAVIES,  LL.D. 


This  Course,  combining  all  that  is  most  valuable  in  tho  various  methods 
of  European  instruction,  improved  and  matured  by  the  suggestions  of 
nearly  forty  years’  experience,  now  forms  the  only  complete  consecutive 
Course  of  Mathematics.  Its  methods,  harmonizing  as  the  works  of  one 
'  mind,  carry  the  student  onward  by  the  tame  analogies  and  the  same  laws 
of  association,  and  are  calculated  to  impart  a  comprehensive  knowledge  oi 
the  science,  combining  clearness  in  the  several  branches,  and  unity  and 
proportion  in  the  whole.  Being  the  system  so  long  in  use  at  West  Point, 
and  through  which  so  many  men  eminent  for  their  scientific  attainments 
have  passed,  it  may  be  justly  regarded  as  our  National  Ststem  or  Mathe¬ 
matics. 


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Dtuiics’  Qlritl) metical  QTablc-Cook,  Designed  for 

Beginners.  15  cts. 

Danics  Primary  Qlrit!)metic :  Containing  the  Oral 

Method  with  the  Mothod  of  Teaching  the  Combination  of  Figures 
by  Sight.  20  cts. 

Dames’  SuteUertnal  Qtritfymeti^,  Containing  a  large 

Number  of  Practical  Example*.  25  ets. 

4.  Dantes’  QVrit!)metic,  Designed  for  the  use  of  Schools  and 

Academies.  Revised  Ed.  45  cts. 
ta  Saties’  JScijool  ■Srit?jnutu  for  5Ttarl)ft*.  45  Cts. 

Dailies’  Hnioereitj)  Slritljmelic,  Embracing  the  Science 

of  Numbers,  and  their  numerous  Applications.  75  cts. 

Ctejj  to  tBsixf*’  JHnittrsitj)  Srittmrtic  for  Cractim.  50  cts. 

D atnea’  Gfkmentani  Algebra,  Being  an  Introduction 

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sfef e  to  Satin'  Elementary  aigrbr*  fpr  Ctatljrr*,  50  cte. 

Datiics’  (Elements  of  (Bieomctrji  aub  Grrigonomctrr}, 

with  Applications  ru  Mensuration.  This  work  embraces  the  clo 
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is  plain  and  concise,  but  at  the  same  time  strictly  rigorous*  New  and 


Enlarged  Edition 

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RESULTS  OF  THE  GREAT  EXHIBITIONS 


I 


LECTURES 


ON  THE 

PROGRESS  OF  ARTS  AND  SCIENCE, 


RESULTING  FROM  THE 


GREAT  EXHIBITION  IN  LONDON, 


DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE 


SOCIETY  OF  ARTS,  MANUFACTURES,  AND  COMMERCE, 

AT  THE  SUGGESTION  OF 

H.  R.  H.  PRINCE  ALBERT, 

BY 

DR.  WHEWELL,  SIR  HENRY  T.  DE  LA  BECHE,  PROF.  OWEN,  JACOB 
BELL,  ESQ.,  DR.  LYON  PLAYFAIR,  PROF.  LINDLEY,  PROF.  SOLLY, 
PROF.  WILLIS,  JAMES  GLAISHER,  ESQ.,  HENRY  HENSMAN, 

E8Q.,  PROF.  ROYLE,  AND  CAPT.  WASHINGTON,  E.  N. 


NEW  YORK: 

A.  S.  BARNES  &  CO.,  51  JOHN-STREET. 

CINCINNATI:  H.  W.  DERBY. 

1856. 


I 


■ 

2Sm 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Lectuee  I. — Dr.  Whewell  on  the  general  bearing  of  the  Great  Exhi¬ 
bition  on  the  Progress  of  Art  and  Science .  3 

“  II. — Sir  Henry  T.  De  la  Beche  on  Mining,  Quarrying,  and 

Metallurgical  Processes  and  Products .  29 

“  III. — Professor  Owen  on  the  Baw  Materials  from  the  Animal 

Kingdom .  59 

“  IV. — Jacob  Bell,  Esq.,  on  the  Chemical  and  Pharmaceutical 

Processes  and  Products .  101 

“  Y. — Dr.  Lyon  Playfair  on  the  Chemical  Principles  involved 

in  the  Manufactures  of  the  Great  Exhibition .  119 

“  VI. — Professor  Lindley  on  Substances  used  as  Pood .  159 

“  VII. — Professor  Solly  on  Vegetable  Substances  used  in  the 

Arts  and  Manufactures .  185 

“  VIII. — Professor  Willis  on  Machines  and  Tools  for  working  in 

Metal,  Wood,  and  other  Materials .  221 

“  IX. — James  Glaisher,  Esq.,  on  Philosophical  Instruments  and 

Processes,  as  represented  in  the  Great  Exhibition. . .  243 

“  X. — Henry  Henssnan,  Esq.,  on  Civil  Engineering  and  Ma¬ 
chinery  generally .  305 

“  XI. — Prof.  Boyle  on  the  Arts  and  Manufactures  of  India -  338 

“  XII. — Captain  Washington,  E.  N.,  on  the  Progress  of  Naval 

Architecture,  and  on  Life-Boats .  405 


• 

• 

• 

DR.  WHEWELL 


ON  THE 


GENERAL  BEARING  OF  THE  GREAT  EXHIBITION. 


It  seems  to  me  as  if  I  were  one  of  the  persons  who  have 
the  least  right  of  any  to  address  an  audience  like  this  on  the 
subject  of  the  Great  Exhibition  of  the  Art  and  Industry 
of  All  Nations,  of  which  the  doors  have  so  lately  closed ;  in¬ 
asmuch  as  I  have  had  no  connexion  with  that  great  event, 
nor  relation  to  it,  except  that  of  a  mere  spectator — one  of 
the  many  millions  there.  The  eminent  and  zealous  men  in 
whose  wide  views  it  originated,  by  whose  indomitable  energy 
and  perseverance  the  great  thought  of  such  a  spectacle  was 
embodied  in  a  visible,  material  shape ;  those  who,  from  our 
own  countries  or  from  foreign  lands,  supplied  it  with  the 
treasures  and  wonders  of  art;  those  who,  with  scrutinizing 
eye  and  judicial  mind,  compared  those  treasures  and  those 
wonders,  and  stamped  their  approval  on  the  worthiest;  those 
who  can  point  to  the  glories  of  the  Exhibition,  and  say, 
“  quorum  pars  magma  fui — those  persons  may  well  be 
considered  as  having  a  right  to  express  to  you  the  thoughts 
which  have  been  suggested  by  the  scenes  in  which  they  have 
thus  had  to  live :  but  of  these  I  am  not  one.  I  have  been 
in  the  Exhibition,  as  I  have  said,  a  mere  spectator.  Never¬ 
theless,  the  Council  of  the  Society  of  Arts  have  doue  me  the 
honour  to  express  a  wish  that  I  should  offer  to  you  such 
reflections  as  the  spectacle  of  the  Great  Exhibition  has  sug- 

(D 


6  THE  GENERAL  BEARING  OF  THE  EXHIBITION 

tive  power  are,  after  having  had  so  great  a  manifestation  of 
what  they  do. 

To  discover  the  laws  of  operative  power  in  literary  works, 
though  it  claims  no  small  respect  under  the  name  ot  Criti¬ 
cism,  is  not  commonly  considered  the  work  of  a  science. 
But,  to  discover  the  laws  of  operative  power  in  material  pro¬ 
ductions,  whether  formed  by  man  or  brought  into  being  by 
Nature  herself,  is  the  work  of  a  science,  and  is  indeed  what 
we  more  especially  term  Science;  and  thus,  in  the  case 
with  which  we  have  to  do,  we  have,  instead  of  the  Criticism 
which  naturally  comes  after  the  general  circulation  of 
Poetry,  the  Science  which  naturally  comes  after  a  great  ex¬ 
hibition  of  Art :  two  cases  of  succession  connected  by  a  very 
close  and  profound  analogy.  That  this  view  of  the  natural 
and  general  succession  ot  science  to  art,  as  of  criticism  to 
poetry,  is  not  merely  fanciful  and  analogical,  we  may  easily 
convince  ourselves  by  looking  for  an  instant  at  the  progiess 
of  art  and  of  science  in  past  times.  For  we  see  that,  in 
general,  art  has  preceded  science.  Men  have  executed  great, 
and  curious,  and  beautiful  works  before  they  had  a  scientific 
insight  into  the  principles  on  which  the  success  ot  their 
labours  was  founded.  There  were  good  artificers  in  brass 
and  iron  before  the  principles  of  the  chemistry  of  metals 
were  known;  there  was  wine  among  men  before  there  was 
a  philosophy  of  vinous  fermentatiou ;  there  were  mighty 
masses  raised  into  the  air,  cyclopean  walls  and  cromlechs, 
obelisks  and  pyramids — probably  gigantic  Doric  pillars  and 
entablatures — before  there  was  a  theory  of  the  mechanical 
powers.  The  earlier  generations  did ;  the  later  explained 
that  it  had  been  possible  to  do.  Art  was  the  mother  of 
Science :  the  vigorous  and  comely  mother  of  a  daughter  ot 
far  loftier  and  serener  beauty.  And  as  it  had  been  in  the 
period  of  scientific  activity  in  the  ancient  world,  so  was  it 
again  in  the  modern  period  in  which  Science  began  her  later 
growth.  The  middle  ages  produced  or  improved  a  vast 
body  of  arts.  Parchment  and  paper,  printing  and  engrav¬ 
ing,  glass  and  steel,  compass  and  gunpowder,  clocks  and 
watches,  microscopes  and  telescopes,  not  to  speak  of  the 
marvels  of  architecture,  sculpture,  and  painting,  all  had 
their  origin  and  progress,  while  the  sciences  of  recent  times 
were  in  their  cradle  or  were  unborn  The  dawn  of  the  six- 


ON  THE  PROGRESS  OP  ART  AND  SCIENCE. 


7 


teenth  century  presented,  as  it  were,  a  Great  Exhibition  of 
the  works  which  men  had  been  producing  from  the  time  of 
the  downfall  of  Roman  civilization  and  skill.  There,  too, 
might  he  seen,  by  him  who  travelled  from  land  to  land, 
beautiful  textures,  beautiful  vessels  of  gold  and  bronze,  of 
porcelain  and  glass,  wonderful  machines,  mighty  fabrics; 
and  from  that  time,  stimulated  by  the  sight  of  such  a  mass 
of  the  works  of  human  skill, — stimulated  still  more  by  the 
natural  working  of  those  powers  of  man  from  which  such 
skill  had  arisen, — men  were  led  to  seek  for  science  as  well 
as  art;  for  science  as  the  natural  complement  of  art,  and 
fulfilment  of  the  thoughts  and  hopes  which  art  excites; — 
for  science  as  the  fully  developed  blossom,  of  which  art  is  the 
wonderfully  involved  bud.  Stimulated  by  such  influences, 
the  scientific  tendencies  of  modern  Europe  took  their  start¬ 
ing  impulse  from  the  Great  Exhibition  of  the  productions  of 
the  middle  ages  which  had  accumulated  in  the  sixteenth 
century;  and  have  ever  since  been  working  onwards,  with 
ever-increasing  vigour,  and  in  an  ever-expanding  sphere. 

As  the  successful  scientific  speculations  of  the  last  three 
centuries  have  been  the  natural  sequel  to  the  art-energies 
of  the  preceding  ages,  so  must  the  newest  scientific  specula¬ 
tions  of  our  contemporaries  and  their  successors,  in  order  to 
be  successful,  be  the  result  and  consequence  of  the  powers, 
as  yet  often  appearing  in  the  undeveloped  form  of  art  alone, 
which  exist  among  us  at  the  present  day.  And  thus  a 
great  spectacle  of  the  works  of  material  art  ought  to  carry 
with  it  its  scientific  moral.  And  the  opportunities  which 
we  have  lately  had  of  surveying  the  whole  of  the  world  in 
which  art  reigns,  and  of  appreciating  the  results  of  its  sway, 
may  well  be  deemed  too  valuable  to  be  let  slip  for  the  pur¬ 
poses  of  that  scientific  speculation  which  is  the  proper  se¬ 
quence  of  such  occasions.  So  it  has  seemed  to  those  who 
have  from  the  beginning  taken  a  lofty,  and  comprehensive, 
and  hopeful  view  of  the  great  undertaking  of  which  the  first 
act  is  now  completed;  and  especially  to  that  mind  which 
has  always  taken  the  most  lofty,  and  comprehensive,  and 
hopeful  view. 

And  in  order  to  carry  into  effect  this  suggestion,  it  has 
been  determined  that  persons  well  qualified  to  draw  from 
the  spectacle  the  series  of  scientific  morals  which  it  offers, 


8  THE  GENERAL  BEARING  OF  THE  EXHIBITION 

should  present  them  to  you  here; — that  critics  should 
analyze  for  you  some  of  the  fine  compositions  with  which 
you  have  become  acquainted; — that  men  of  science  should 
explain  to  you  what  you  ought  to  learn  from  such  an  ex¬ 
hibition  of  art.  And  it  has  been  thought  that  it  Might 
not  be  useless  that  you  should  be  reminded,  in  the  first 
place,  how  great  and  unique  the  occasion  is,  and  how  pecu¬ 
liar  are  some  of  the  lessons  which  even  the  most  general 
spectator,  unfit  to  enter  into  the  details  of  any  of  the  special 
arts,  may  draw  from  it. 

For  indeed  it  is  obvious,  at  a  glance,  how  great  and  un¬ 
exampled  is  the  opportunity  thus  given  to  us,  of  taking  a 
survey  of  the  existing  state  of  art  in  every  part  of  the  world. 
I  have  said,  that  if,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  an  intelligent 
spectator  could  have  travelled  from  land  to  land,  he  might, 
in  that  way,  have  seen  a  wonderful  collection  of  the  works 
of  man  in  many  different  countries;  and  combining  all  these 
in  his  thoughts,  he  would  have  had  in  his  mind  a  repre¬ 
sentation  of  the  whole  progress  of  human  art  and  industry 
up  to  the  last  moment,  and  a  picture  of  the  place  which 
each  nation  at  that  moment  occupied  in  the  line  of  that 
progress.  But  what  time,  what  labour,  what  perseverance, 
what  hardships,  what  access  to  great  and  powerful  men  in 
every  land,  what  happiness  of  opportunity,  would  be  im¬ 
plied  in  the  completion  of  such  a  survey !  A  life  would 
scarcely  suffice  for  it;  a  man  could  scarcely  be  found  who 
would  achieve  it,  with  all  appliances  and  means  which  wealth 
and  power  could  give.  He  must,  like  the  philosophers  of 
ancient  days,  spend  all  his  years  of  vigour  in  travelling ; 
must  roam  in  the  varied  regions  of  India ;  watch  the  artisan 
in  the  streets  of  the  towns  of  China;  dive  into  the  mines 
of  Norway  and  of  Mexico;  live  a  life  in  the  workshops  of 
England,  I  ranee,  and  Germany ;  and  trace  the  western  tide 
of  industry  and  art  as  it  spreads  over  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi.  And  when  he  had  done  all  this,  and  however 
carefully  he  had  done  it,  yet  how  defective  must  it  be  at 
least  in  one  point !  How  far  must  it  be  from  a  simultaneous 
view  of  the  condition  of  the  whole  globe  as  to  material  arts! 
During  the  time  that  he  has  been  moving  from  place  to 
place,  the  face  of  the  world  has  been  rapidly  changing. 
When  lie  saw  Tunis  it  was  a  barbarous  state;  now  that  he 


ON  THE  PROGRESS  OE  ART  AND  SCIENCE. 


9 


has  to  make  up  his  account,  it  is  the  first  which  asks  for  a 
leading  place  among  the  civilized  communities  of  the  indus¬ 
trial  world.  When  he  visited  the  plains  of  Iowa  and  Wis¬ 
consin,  they  were  wild  pi’airie;  they  are  now  the  fields  from 
which  the  cereal  harvest  is  swept  by  the  latest  improved 
reaping  machine.  When  he  was  at  the  antipodes,  the  naked 
savage  offered  the  only  specimen  of  art  in  his  rude  club  and 
frail  canoe;  now  there  is  there  a  port  whose  lofty  ships 
carry  regularly  to  European  markets*  multiplied  forms  of 
native  produce  and  manufactures.  Even  if  his  picture  be 
complete  as  to  surface,  what  anachronisms  must  there  be  in 
it !  How  much  that  expresses  not  the  general  view  of  the 
earth,  but  the  accidental  peculiarities  of  the  traveller’s 
personal  narrative !  And  then,  how  dim  must  be  the 
images  of  the  thing  seen  many  years  ago  compared  with 
that  which  is  present  to  the  eye !  How  impossible  to  com¬ 
pare  the  one  with  the  other — the  object  now  seen  in  age 
with  a  similar  object  remembered  in  youth  !  And  after  all, 
when  we  have  assumed  such  a  traveller — such  a  one  as  never 
has  been — the  Ulysses  of  modern  times — seeing  the  cities 
of  many  men,  and  knowing  their  minds — seeing  the  work¬ 
shops  of  all  nations,  and  knowing  their  arts — we  have  but 
one  such.  His  knowledge  is  only  his.  He  cannot,  in  any 
clear  or  effective  manner,  communicate  any  large  portion  of 
it  to  others.  It  exists  only  for  him — it  perishes  with  him. 
And  now  let  us,  in  the  license  of  epical  imagination,  sup¬ 
pose  such  an  Ulysses — much-seeing,  much-wandering,  much- 
enduring — to  come  to  some  island  of  Calypso,  some  well- 
inhabited  city,  under  the  rule  of  powerful  and  benignant, 
but  plainly,  he  must  believe,  superhuman  influences,  and 
there  to  find  that  image  of  the  world  and  its  arts,  which  he 
had  vainly  tried  to  build  up  in  his  mind,  exhibited  before 
his  bodily  eye  in  a  vast  crystal  frame ; — true  in  every 
minutest  thread  and  hue,  from  the  sparkle  of  the  diamond 
to  the  mighty  bulk  of  the  colossus ;  true  to  that  which 
belongs  to  every  part  of  the  earth ;  and  this,  with  the  effects 
which  the  arts  produce,  not  at  the  intervals  of  the  traveller’s 
weary  journey,  but  everywhere  at  the  present  hour.  And, 
further,  let  him  see  the  whole  population  of  the  land — 
thousands  upon  thousands,  millions  upon  millions,  streaming 
to  this  sight,  gazing  their  fill,  day  after  day,  at  this  wonder- 


10  THE  GENERAL  BEARING  OF  THE  EXHIBITION 


ful  vision,  inviting  the  men  of  neighbouring  and  of  distant 
lands  to  gaze  with  them ;  looking  at  the  objects,  not  like  a 
fairy  picture  in  the  distant  clouds,  but  close  at  hand ;  com¬ 
paring,  judging,  scrutinizing  the  treasures  produced  by  the 
all-bounteous  earth,  and  the  indomitable  efforts  of  man,  from 
pole  to  pole,  and  from  east  to  west ;  or,  as  he  would  learn 
more  truly  to  measure,  from  east  to  east  again.  When  we 
have  supposed  such  a  vision,  do  we  not  seem  to  have  gone 
beyond 

“Quicquid  Grecia  mendax 
Audit  in  kistoria 

all  the  wonders  of  that  wondrous  ancient  Odyssean  tale? 
And  yet,  in  making  such  a  supposition,  have  we  not  been 
exactly  describing  that  which  we  have  seen  within  these  few 
months  ?  Have  not  we  ourselves  made  part  of  the  popula¬ 
tion  of  such  a  charmed  isle, — of  the  crowds  which  have 
gazed  on  such  a  magic  spectacle  ? 

But  now  that  we  have  had  the  spectacle  before  us,  let  us 
consider  for  a  moment  what  the  vision  was,  and  what  were 
the  reflections  which  it  excited.  We  had,  offered  to  our 
review,  the  choicest  productions  of  human  art  in  all  nations; 
or,  at  least,  collections  which  might  be  considered  as  repre¬ 
senting  all  nations.  Now  in  nations  compared  with  nations 
there  is  a  difference ;  in  a  nation  compared  with  itself  at  an 
earlier  time,  there  is  a  progress.  There  may  not  always  be 
a  progress  in  good  government ;  there  may  not  necessarily 
be,  though  we  would  gladly  hope  that  there  is,  a  progress 
in  virtue,  in  morality,  in  happiness.  But  there  always  is, 
except  when  very  adverse  influences  roll  back  the  common 
course  of  things,  a  progress  in  art,  and  generally  in  science. 
In  the  useful  and  ornamental  arts  nations  are  always  going 
forwards,  from  stage  to  stage.  Different  nations  have 
reached  different  stages  of  this  progress,  and  all  their 
different  stages  are  seen  at  once,  in  the  aspect  which  they  have 
at  this  moment  in  the  magical  glass,  which  tli£  enchanters 
of  our  time  have  made  to  rise  out  of  the  ground  like  an 
exhalation.  The  infancy  of  nations,  their  youth,  their 
middle  age,  and  their  maturity,  all  appear,  in  their  simul¬ 
taneous  aspect,  like  the  most  distant  objects  revealed  at  the 
same  moment  by  a  flash  of  lightning  in  a  dusky  night : — or 


ON  THE  PROGRESS  OP  ART  AND  SCIENCE.  11 

we  may  compare  the  result  to  that  which  would  be  pro¬ 
duced,  if  we  could  suppose  some  one  of  the  skilful  photo¬ 
graphers  whose  subtle  apparatus  we  have  had  exhibited 
here,  could  bring  within  his  field  of  view  the  surface  of  the 
globe,  with  all  its  workshops  and  markets,  and  produce 
instantaneously  a  permanent  picture,  in  which  the  whole 
were  seen  side  by  side.  But  it  is  not  a  mere  picture  of 
things  which  are  found  standing  together  that  we  have  had 
presented  to  us;  the  great  achievement  was  the  bringing 
them  together.  You  have  most  of  you  probably  heard  of 
the  careful  and  economical  critic,  who  proposed  to  reduce 
the  extravagance  of  the  wish  of  the  impatient  separated 
lovers,  that  the  gods  would  annihilate  space  and  time;  and 
who  remarked  that  it  would  answer  the  end  desired  if  one 
of  the  two  were  annihilated.  By  annihilating  the  space 
which  separates  different  nations,  we  produce  a  spectacle  in 
which  is  also  annihilated  the  time  which  separates  one  stage 
of  a  nation’s  progress  from  another. 

An  ingenious  speculator  of  our  own  day,  clothing  these 
metaphysical  abstractions  in  the  form  which  modern  science 
assigns  to  them,  has  shown  how  we  might,  theoretically 
speaking,  be,  in  a  few  instants,  actual  spectators,  bodily  and 
contemporaneous  eye-witnesses,  of  all  the  events  which  have 
passed  since  man  lias  existed  upon  earth.  For,  if  we  only 
imagine  that,  as  the  visual  impressions  on  the  vehicle  of 
light,  by  which  alone  vision  can  take  place,  travel  away 
from  the  scenes  by  the  occurrence  of  which  their  configura¬ 
tion  was  given  to  them,  we  also  travel  after  this  moving 
vision,  and  go  but  a  very  little  faster  than  light  itself,  we 
shall  overtake  successively  the  visual  images  of  all  suc¬ 
cessive  events,  and  see  them  as  truly  as  a  distant  spectator 
(and  what  spectator  is  not  more  or  less  distant?)  sees  what 
passes  before  his  eyes.  We  might  thus  see  now  what  is 
passing  around  us,  and  the  next  minute,  by  rushing  to  the 
borders  of  the  solar  system,  where  the  images  are  still 
travelling  outwards,  see  the  first  inhabitant  of  this  island 
placing  his  foot  upon  its  coast;  and  in  the  intermediate 
distances  we  should  successively  overtake  and  see,  with  our 
bodily  eyes,  in  inverted  order,  the  events  of  the  English, 
Norman,  Saxon,  Roman,  and  British  times;  and  we  might 
mark,  at  each  period,  the  food,  the  clothing,  the  arms,  the 


12  THE  GENERAL  BEARING  OP  THE  EXHIBITION 

tools,  the  houses,  the  machines,  and  the  ornaments  of  the 
various  times. 

Now,  that  which  this  scientific  dream  thus  presents  to  us 
in  imagination,  the  Exhibition  of  the  Industry  and  Arts  of 
All  Nations  has  presented  as  a  visible  reality;  for  we  have 
had  there  collected  examples  of  the  food  and  clothing  and 
other  works  of  art  of  nations  in  every  stage  of  the  progress 
of  art.  From  Otaheite,  so  long  in  the  eyes  of  Englishmen 
the  type  of  gentle  but  uncultured  life,  Queen  Pomare  sends 
mats  and  cloth,  head-dresses  and  female  gear,  which  the 
native  art  of  her  women  fabricates  from  their  indigenous 
plants.  From  Labuan,  the  last  specimen  of  savage  life  with 
which  this  country  has  become  connected,  we  have  also 
clothes  and  armour,  weapons  and  musical  instruments. 
From  all  the  wide  domains  which  lie  within  or  around  our 
Indian  Empire  wo  have  rich  and  various  contributions; 
from  Sincapore  and  Ceylon,  Celebes  and  Java,  Mengatal 
and  Palembang.  The  ruder  and  more  primitive  of  these 
regions  send  us  their  native  food  and  clothing,  their  fishing 
nets  and  baskets;  but  art  soon  goes  beyond  these  first 
essays  From  Sumatra  we  have  the  loom  and  the  plough, 
lacquered  work  and  silken  wares;  and  as  we  proceed  from 
these  outside  regions  to  that  central  and  ancient  India,  so 
long  the  field  of  a  peculiar  form  of  civilization,  we  have  end¬ 
less  and  innumerable  treasures  of  skill  and  ingenuity,  of 
magnificence  and  beauty.  And  yet  we  perceive  that,  in 
advancing  from  these  to  the  productions  of  our  own  form  of 
civilization,  which  has,  even  in  that  country,  shown  its 
greater  power,  we  advance  also  to  a  more  skilful,  powerful, 
comprehensive,  and  progressive  form  of  art.  And  looking 
at  the  whole  of  this  spectacle  of  the  arts  of  life  in  all  then- 
successive  stages,  there  is  one  train  of  reflection  which  can¬ 
not  fail,  I  think,  to  strike  us;  namely,  this: — In  the  first 
place,  that  man  is,  by  nature  and  universally,  an  artificer, 
an  artisan,  an  artist.  We  call  the  nations,  from  which  such 
specimens  came  as  those  which  I  first  mentioned,  rude  and 
savage,  and  yet  how  much  is  there  of  ingenuity,  of  inven¬ 
tion,  ot  practical  knowledge  of  the  properties  of  branch  and 
leaf,  of  vegetable  texture  and  fibre,  in  the  works  of  the 
rudest  tribes !  IIow  much,  again,  of  manual  dexterity, 
acquired  by  long  and  persevering  practice,  and  even  so,  not 


ON  THE  PROGRESS  OF  ART  AND  SCIENCE. 


13 


easy!  And  then,  again,  not  only  how  well  adapted  are 
these  works  of  art  to  the  mere  needs  of  life,  but  how  much 
of  neatness,  of  prettiness,  even  of  beauty,  do  they  often 
possess,  even  whrni  the  work  of  savage  hands  !  So  that  man 
is  naturally,  as  I  have  said,  not  only  an  artificer,  but  an 
artist.  Even  we,  while  we  look  down  from  our  lofty 
summit  of  civilized  and  mechanically-aided  skill  upon  the 
infancy  of  art,  may  often  learn  from  them  lessons  of  taste. 
So  wonderfully  and  effectually  has  Providence  planted  in 
man  the  impulse  which  urges  him  on  to  his  destination, — 
his  destination,  which  is,  to  mould  the  bounty  of  nature 
into  such  forms  as  utility  demands,  and  to  show  at  every 
step  that  with  mere  utility  he  cannot  be  content.  And 
when  we  come  to  the  higher  stages  of  cultured  art — to  the 
works  of  nations  long  civilized,  though  inferior  to  ourselves, 
it  may  be,  in  progressive  civilization  and  mechanical  power, 
how  much  do  we  find  in  their  works  which  we  must  admire, 
which  we  might  envy,  which,  indeed,  might  drive  us  to 
despair!  Even  still,  the  tissues  and  ornamental  works  of 
Persia  and  of  India  have  beauties  which  we,  with  all  our 
appliances  and  means,  cannot  surpass.  The  gorgeous  East 
showers  its  barbaric  pearl  and  gold  into  its  magnificent 
textures.  But  is  there  really  anything  barbaric  in  the  skill 
and  taste  which  they  display  ?  Does  the  Oriental  prince  or 
monarch,  even  if  he  coniine  his  magnificence  to  native 
manufactures,  present  himself  to  the  eyes  of  his  slaves  in  a 
less  splendid  or  less  elegant  attire  than  the  nobles  and  the 
sovereigns  of  this  our  Western  world,  more  highly  civilized 
as  we  nevertheless  deem  it?  Eew  persons,  I  think,  would 
answer  in  the  affirmative.  The  silks  and  shawls,  the  em¬ 
broidery  and  jewellery,  the  moulding  and  carving,  which 
those  countries  can  produce,  and  which  decorate  their  palaces 
and  their  dwellers  in  palaces,  are  even  now  such  as  we  can¬ 
not  excel.  Oriental  magnificence  is  still  a  proverbial  mode 
of  describing  a  degree  of  splendour  and  artistical  richness 
which  is  not  found  among  ourselves. 

What,  then,  shall  we  say  of  ourselves  ?  Wherein  is  our 
superiority?  In  what  do  we  see  the  effect,  the  realization, 
of  that  more  advanced  stage  of  art  which  we  conceive  our¬ 
selves  to  have  attained?  What  advantage  do  we  derive 
from  the  immense  accumulated  resources  of  skill  and  capital 
2 


14  THE  GENERAL  BEARING  OF  THE  EXHIBITION 

— of  mechanical  ingenuity  and  mechanical  power — which 
we  possess?  Surely  our  imagined  superiority  is  not  all 
imaginary ;  surely  we  really  are  more  advanced  than  they, 
and  this  term  “advanced”  has  a  meaning;  surely  that 
mighty  thought  of  a  progress  in  the  life  of  nations  is  not 
an  empty  dream ;  and  surely  our  progress  has  carried  us 
beyond  them.  Where,  then,  is  the  import  of  the  idea  in 
this  case  ?  What  is  the  leading  and  characteristic  difference 
between  them  and  us,  as  to  this  matter  ?  What  is  the  broad 
and  predominant  distinction  between  the  arts  of  nations  rich, 
but  in  a  condition  of  nearly  stationary  civilization,  like  Ori 
ental  nations,  and  nations  which  have  felt  the  full  influence 
of  progress  like  ourselves  ? 

If  I  am  not  mistaken,  the  difference  may  be  briefly  ex¬ 
pressed  thus  : — That  in  those  countries  the  arts  are  mainly 
exercised  to  gratify  the  tastes  of  the  few ;  with  us,  to  supply 
the  wants  of  the  many.  There,  the  wealth  of  a  province 
is  absorbed  in  the  dress  of  a  mighty  warrior;  here,  the 
gigantic  weapons  of  the  peaceful  potentate  are  used  to  pro¬ 
vide  clothing  for  the  world.  For  that  which  makes  it  suit¬ 
able  that  machinery,  constructed  on  a  vast  scale,  and  em¬ 
bodying  enormous  capital,  should  be  used  in  manufacture, 
is  that  the  wares  produced  should  be  very  great  in  quantity, 
so  that  the  smallest  advantage  in  the  power  of  working, 
being  multiplied  a  million  fold,  shall  turn  the  scale  of  profit. 
And  thus  such  machinery  is  applied  when  wares  are  manu¬ 
factured  for  a  vast  population; — when  millions  upon  mil¬ 
lions  have  to  be  clothed,  or  fed,  or  ornamented,  or  pleased, 
with  the  things  so  produced.  I  have  heard  one  say,  who 
had  extensively  and  carefully  studied  the  manufacturing 
establishments  of  this  country,  that  when  he  began  his  sur¬ 
vey  he  expected  to  find  the  most  subtle  and  refined  machinery 
applied  to  the  most  delicate  and  beautiful  kind  of  work — to 
gold  and  silver,  jewels  and  embroidery  :  but  that  when  he 
came  to  examine,  he  found  that  these  works  were  mainly 
executed  by  hand,  and  that  the  most  exquisite  aud  the  most 
expensive  machinery  was  brought  into  play  where  operations 
on  the  most  common  materials  were  to  be  performed,  because 
these  were  to  be  executed  on  the  widest  scale.  And  this  is 
when  coarse  aud  ordinary  wares  are  manufactured  for  the 
many.  This,  therefore,  is  the  meaning  of  tho  vast  and 


ON  THE  PROGRESS  OP  ART  AND  SCIENCE. 


15 


astonishing  prevalence  of  machine-work  in  this  country : — 
that  the  machine  with  its  million  fingers  works  for  millions 
of  purchasers,  while  in  remote  countries,  where  magnificence 
and  savagery  stand  side  by  side,  tens  of  thousands  work  for 
one.  There  Art  labours  for  the  rich  alone ;  here  she  works 
for  the  poor  no  less.  There  the  multitude  produce  only  to 
give  splendour  and  grace  to  the  despot  or  the  warrior  whose 
slaves  they  are,  and  whom  they  enrich  ;  here  the  man  who 
is  powerful  in  the  weapons  of  peace,  capital  and  machinery, 
uses  them  to  give  comfort  and  enjoyment  to  the  public, 
whose  servant  he  is,  and  thus  becomes  rich  while  he  enriches 
others  with  his  goods.  If  this  be  truly  the  relation  between 
the  condition  of  the  arts  of  life  in  this  country  and  in  those 
others,  may  we  not  with  reason  and  with  gratitude  say  that 
we  have,  indeed,  reached  a  point  beyond  theirs  in  the  social 
progress  of  nations  ? 

I  have,  perhaps,  detained  you  too  long  with  these  general 
reflections,  suggested  by  the  mere  general  aspect  of  that 
great  display  of  the  works  of  nations  in  every  stage  of  pro¬ 
gress,  which  we  have  had  lately  before  our  eyes.  But  I 
hope  you  will  recollect,  that  I  began  by  claiming  the  privi¬ 
lege  of  speaking  as  a  mere  spectator,  who  had  not  had  occa¬ 
sion  to  study  the  objects  there  assembled  in  a  special  and 
official  manner.  There  is,  however,  one  view  of  the  sub¬ 
ject,  perhaps  a  little  less  obvious,  which  I  should  wish  to 
endeavour  to  bring  before  you  :  I  mean,  the  view  suggested 
by  the  C lassification  of  which  such  a  collection  has  been 
found  to  be  capable.  Perhaps,  at  the  first  thought,  it  might 
be  supposed  to  divide  any  collection  of  things,  however 
numerous  and  various,  into  classes,  is  a  work  of  no  great 
difficulty,  though  when  the  collection  is  great  it  may  require 
much  time.  For,  it  might  be  said,  You  have  only  to  de¬ 
termine  according  to  what  resemblances  and  what  differences 
you  will  make  your  classes,  and  then  to  go  through  the 
work,  sticking  to  these.  But  any  one  who  has  attended  a 
little  more  to  the  science  of  classification,  or  even  who  has 
made  the  attempt  on  any  considerable  scale,  knows  that 
this  is  not  so :  and  that  except  the  scheme  of  classes  be 
very  skilfully  and  very  happily  devised,  it  lands  us  in  into¬ 
lerable  incongruities  and  even  in  impossibilities.  Indeed, 
without  seeking  any  exemplification  of  this  remark  in  the 


16  THE  GENERAL  BEARING  OF  THE  EXHIBITION 

classificatory  sciences,  winch,  can  throw  on  this  subject  only 
a  distant  and  doubtful  light,  we  have  experimental  evidence 
of  the  difficulty  of  classifying  a  great  collection  of  the  pro¬ 
ducts  of  art  and  industry,  in  the  attempts  which  were  made 
to  perform  that  task  on  the  occasions  of  the  French  Expo¬ 
sitions  in  1806,  in  1819,  in  1827,  in  1834,  and  in  1844. 
On  the  first  occasion,  the  distribution  adopted  was  entirely 
geographical;  on  the  second,  it  was  what  was  called  an 
entirely  material  or  natural  system,  dividing  the  arts  into 
thirty-nine  heads, ,  the  consequence  of  which  is  said  to  have 
been  great  confusion.  In  1827  a  purely  scientific  arrange¬ 
ment  .  was  attempted,  into  five  great  divisions,  namely, 
chemical ,  mechanical ,  physical ,  economical,  and  miscella¬ 
neous^  arts.  But  this  was  deemed  too  artificial  and  abstract, 
and  in  1834  M.  Dupin  made  the  division  depend  on  the 
l elation  of  the  arts  to  man,  as  being  alimentary ,  sanitary , 
vestiary ,  domiciliary,  locomotive,  sensitive,  intellectual,  pre¬ 
parative,  social.  This  analysis  was  also  adhered  to  in 
1839.  In  1844  an  attempt  was  made  to  unite  some  features 
of  the  previous  systems,  and  the  objects  were  classified  as 
woven,  mineral,  mechanical,  mathematical,  chemical,  fine 
arts,  ceramic,  and  miscellaneous  ;  which  was  still  complained 
of  as  confused,  but  which  was,  on  the  whole,  retained  in 
1849. 

I  do  not  think  there  is  any  presumption  in  claiming  for 
the  classification  which  has  been  adopted  in  the  Great  Ex¬ 
hibition  of  1851  a  more  satisfactory  character  than  we  can 
allow  to  any  of  those  just  mentioned,  if  we  ground  our 
opinion  either  upon  the  way  in  which  this  last  classification 
was  constructed,  or  upon  the  manner  in  which  it  has  been 
found  to  work.  And  there  is  one  leading  feature  in  it 
which,  simple  as  it  may  seem,  at  once  gives  it  a  new  recom¬ 
mendation.  In  the  systems  already  mentioned  there  were 
no  gradations  of  classification.  There  were  a  certain  num- 
bei,  thirty-nine  or  five,  nine  or  eight,  of  co-ordinate  classes, 
and  that  was  all.  In  the  arrangement  of  the  Great  Exhi- 
ltion  of  18t)l,  by  a  just  and  happy  thought,  a  division  was 
adopted  of  the  objects  to  be  exhibited  into  four  great  Sec¬ 
tions,  to  which  other  Classes,  afterwards  established,  were 
to  be  subordinate;  these  sections  being  Raw  Materials, 
Machinery,  Manufactured  Goods,  and  the  works  of  the  Fine 


ON  THE  PROGRESS  OF  ART  AND  SCIENCE. 


17 


Arts.  The  effect  of  this  grand  division  was  highly  bene¬ 
ficial,  for  within  each  of  these  sections  classes  could  be 
formed  far  more  homogeneous  than  was  possible  while  these 
sections  were  all  thrown  into  one  mass :  when,  for  instance, 
the  cotton-tree,  the  loom,  and  the  muslin,  stood  side  by  side, 
as  belonging  to  vestiary  art;  or  when  woven  and  dyed  goods 
were  far  removed,  as  being  examples,  the  former  of  mecha¬ 
nical ,  the  latter  of  chemical  processes.  Suitable  gradation 
is  the  felicity  of  the  classifying  art,  and  so  it  was  found  to 
be  in  this  instance. 

But  within  this  limit  how  shall  classes  be  formed  ?  Here, 
also,  it  appears  to  me,  simply  as  a  reader  of  the  history  of 
the  Exhibition,  which  any  one  else  may  read,  that  the  pro¬ 
cedure  of  those  who  framed  the  classification  was  marked  with 
sound  good  sense  and  a  wise  rejection  of  mere  technical  rules. 
For  by  assuming  fixed  and  uniform  principles  of  classifica¬ 
tion  we  can  never  obtain  any  but  an  artificial  system,  which 
will  be  found,  in  practice,  to  separate  things  naturally  re¬ 
lated,  and  to  bring  together  objects  quite  unconnected  with 
each  other.  It  was  determined,  that  within  each  of  the 
four  sections  the  divisions  which  had  been  determined  by 
commercial  experience  to  be  most  convenient  should  be 
adopted.  “  Eminent  men  of  science  and  of  manufactures  in 
all  branches  were  invited  to  assist  in  drawing  each  one  the 
boundaries  of  his  own  special  class  of  productions.”*  And 
it  was  resolved,  for  the  general  purposes  of  the  Exhibition, 
to  adopt  thirty  broad  divisions ;  of  which  Classes,  4  were 
of  Raw  Materials;  6  of  Machinery;  19  of  Manufactures; 
and  1  of  the  Fine  Arts.  And  these  thirty  Classes  may  be 
considered  as  having  been  confirmed  by  their  practical  ap¬ 
plication  to  the  collection,  and  to  the  work  of  the  juries  in 
dealing  with  it ;  except  that,  in  some  instances,  it  was  found 
necessary  to  subdivide  a  class  into  others.  Thus  Class  X., 
which  was  originally  described  as  Philosophical  Instruments, 
was  found  to  consist  of  materials  so  heterogeneous,  that  there 
were  separated  from  it  three  classes,  of  Musical,  of  Horo- 
logical,  and  of  Surgical  Instruments.  And  to  Class  V., 
Machines,  was  added  an  Accessory  Class,  Y  a,  Carriages. 
And,  on  the  other  hand,  Classes  XII.  and  XV.,  Woollen 

*  “Illustrated  Catalogue,”  Introd.  p.  22. 


18  THE  GENERAL  BEARING  OF  THE  EXHIBITION 


and  Worsted,  it  was  found  could  be  advantageously  thrown 
into  one. 

Within  these  Classes,  again,  were  other  subdivisions, 
which  were  marked  in  the  Catalogue  by  letters  of  the  al- 
.  phabet.  Thus,  the  Third  Class  consists  of  substances  used 
for  food ;  and  of  these  the  vegetable  division  contains  Sub¬ 
classes,  A,  B,  C,  I),  E,  F,  G- :  the  first  being  cereals,  and 
the  like;  the  second,  fruits ;  the  third,  drinks,  and  so  on. 
And  in  like  manner,  the  Sixth  Class,  'manufacturing  ma¬ 
chines  and  tools,  had  Sub-classes,  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F  :  as  A, 
all  spun  and  woven  fabrics;  B,  manufactures  of  metals ; 
C,  manufactures  of  minerals  and  mining  machinery ,  and 
the  like. 

And,  again,  each  of  these  Sub-classes  was  separated  into 
Heads,  by  numbers.  Thus,  the  Sub-class,  cereals  and  the 
like,  are,  1,  the  common  cereals;  2,  the  less  common;  3, 
millet;  4,  pulse  and  cattle-food ;  5,  grasses  and  roots;  6, 
flours  (ground  grain);  7,  oil  seeds ;  8,  hops.  And  the  Sub¬ 
class  A,  of  manufacturing  machines  and  tools,  included  the 
Heads  1,  machinery  for  spinning  and  weaving  cotton,  wool , 
flax,  hemp,  silk, — for  working  caoutchouc,  gutta  percha, 
hair;  2,  paper-making ;  3,  printing.  And  to  show  how 
much  practical  experience  governed  these  sub-divisions, *1 
may  mention,  that  great  aid  in  this  task  was  found  in  the 
Trades’  Directories  of  Birmingham  and  Manchester,  and 
other  great  manufacturing  towns. 

I  have  followed  this  classification  into  the  ultimate  rami¬ 
fication  of  the  Catalogue,  at  the  risk  of  being,  I  fear, 
tedious  for  a  moment ;  partly  because  I  wish  to  make  a  re¬ 
flection  upon  it;  and  partly,  also,  that  you  may  see  what  a 
vast  work  is  performed  if  this  classification  be  really  cohe¬ 
rent  and  sound.  For,  first,  turn  your  attention  to  the  one 
Head  which  I  have  mentioned :  this  single  Head  includes 
no  less  than  this, — all  machinery  for  the  complete  forma¬ 
tion,  from  the  raw  material,  of  all  fabrics  of  cotton,  wool, 
flax,  hemp,  silk,  caoutchouc,  gutta  percha,  and  hair.  This 
is  Head  1  of  Sub-class  A.  Under  this  Head,  or  under  the 
first  Particular  Head,  cotton,  are  very  many  Articles  in  the 
Great  Bxhibition.  Besides  this  Particular  Head,  and  the 
other  Particular  Heads,  wool ,  flax,  caoutchouc,  &c.,  included 
in  the  General  Head  1,  there  are  two  other  Heads  in  this 


ON  THE  PROGRESS  OF  ART  AND  SCIENCE. 


19 


Sub-class,  each  of  like  extent.  Along  with  this  Sub-class 
A,  are  also  Sub-classes  B,  C,  I),  E,  F,  each  of  an  extent 
not  much  inferior  to  A ;  and  thus,  this  Class  VI.  contains 
a  great  mass  of  Heads,  each  including  a  vast  number  of 
Articles.  Yet,  in  the  Catalogue,  this  Class  VI.  is  one  of 
the  smallest  extent  of  all  the  thirty.  And  though  this  may 
arise  in  part  from  some  of  the  others  being  followed  out 
into  greater  comparative  detail  than  this  Class  VI.,  yet  still 
enough  will  remain  in  this  mode  of  putting  the  matter  to 
show  to  you  how  vast  and  varied  is  the  mass  of  objects 
which  has  thus  been  classified,  and  how  great  the  achieve¬ 
ment  is  if  this  mass  have  really  been  reduced  into  permanent 
order;  if  this  chaos,  not  of  elements  only,  but  of  raw  ma¬ 
terials  mixed  with  complicated  machines,  with  manufac¬ 
tured  goods  and  sculptured  forms,  have  really  been  put  in 
a  shape  in  which  it  will  permanently  retain  traces  of  the 
ordering  hand. 

What  the  value  and  advantage  would  be  of  a  permanent 
and  generally  accepted  classification  of  all  the  materials,  in¬ 
struments,  and  productions  of  human  art  and  industry,  you 
will  none  of  you  require  that  I  should  explain  at  length. 
One  consequence  would  be  that  the  manufacturer,  the  man 
of  science,  the  artisan,  the  merchant,  would  have  a  settled 
common  language,  in  which  they  could  speak  of  the  objects 
about  which  they  are  concerned.  It  is  needless  to  point 
out  how  much  this  would  facilitate  and  promote  their  work¬ 
ing  together;  how  fatal  to  co-operation  is  diversity  and 
ambiguity  in  the  language  used.  One  of  our  old  verse 
writers,  expanding,  according  to  the  suggestions  of  his 
fancy,  the  account  of  the  failure  of  men  in  the  case  of  the 
tower  of  Babel,  has  made  this  cause  of  failure  very  promi¬ 
nent.  He  supposes  that,  the  language  of  the  workmen 
being  confounded,  when  one  of  them  asked  for  a  spade,  his 
companion  brought  him  a  bucket;  or  when  he  called  for 
mortar,  handed  him  a  plumb-line';  and  that,  by  the  con¬ 
stant  recurrence  of  these  incongruous  proceedings,  the  work 
necessarily  came  to  a  stand.  Now  the  conditions  necessary, 
in  order  that  workmen  may  work  together,  really  go  much 
farther  than  the  use  of  a  common  language,  in  the  general 
sense  of  the  phrase.  It  is  not  only  necessary  that  they 
should  call  a  brick  a  brick,  and  a  wire  a  wire,  and  a  nail  a 


20  THE  GENERAL  BEARING  OF  THE  EXHIBITION 

nail,  and  a  tube  a  tube,  and  a  wheel  a  wheel  ;  but  it  is 
desirable,  also,  that  wires,  and  nails,  and  tubes,  and  wheels, 
should  each  be  classified  and  named,  so  that  all  bricks  should 
be  of  one  size,  so  that  a  wire  number  3,  or  a  tube  section  1, 
or  a  six-inch  wheel,  should  have  a  fixed  and  definite  signifi¬ 
cation;  and  that  wires,  and  tubes,  and  wheels,  should  be 
constructed  so  as  to  correspond  to  such  significations  ;  and 
even,  except  for  special  purposes,  no  others  than  such.  It 
may  easily  be  conceived,  for  instance,  how  immensely  the 
construction,  adjustment,  and  repair  of  wheel-work  would  be 
facilitated,  if  wheels  of  a  certain  kind  were  all  made  with 
teeth  of  the  same  kind,  so  that  any  one  could  work  in  any 
other.  And  something  of  this  sort,  something  which  secures 
some  of  these  and  the  like  advantages,  has  been  done  with 
reference  to  cast-iron  toothed  wheels.  And  an  eminent  en¬ 
gineer,  whose  works  stood  in  the  Sixth  Class  of  the  collec¬ 
tion  to  which  I  liaA7e  just  referred,  has  proposed  a  system 
by  which  a  like  uniformity  should  be  secured  in  the  dimen¬ 
sions  and  fitting  of  machinery;  and  especially  with  regard  to 
screws;  fixing  thus  their  exact  diameter  and  pitch,  as  it  is 
called — a  process  which  would  have  the  like  effect  of  making 
the'  construction,  application,  and  repair  of  all  work  into 
wdiich  screws  enter  vastly  more  easy  and  expeditious  than  it 
now  is.  Now  these  are  the  great  and  beneficial  effects . 
which  follow  from  a  good  and  generally  accepted  sub-classi¬ 
fication  of  one  of  the  lowest  members  of  that  classification 
which  the  Catalogue  exhibits  to  us.  Mr.  Whitworth  would 
classify  screws,  and  wheels,  and  axles,  as  the  millwrights 
have  classified  toothed  wheels.  But  screws,  or  wheels,  or 
axles,  are  merely  one  kind  of  tool,  one  element  of  ma¬ 
chinery  ;  and  tools  and  machinery  are  only  one  class  out  of 
thirty  of  the  great  collection  of  which  we  are  speaking.  If, 
then,  so  great  benefits  arise  from  a  common  understanding 
as  to  the  species  of  one  of  the  lowest  members  of  our  classi¬ 
fication,  may  we  not  expect  corresponding  advantages  from 
a  fixation  of  the  names  and  distinctions  of  the  higher  mem¬ 
bers  ? — of  the  names  of  tools  and  machines,  for  instance ; 
and  from  a  perception  of  their  relations  to  each  other,  which 
a  good  classification  brings  into  view ;  and  then,  again,  from 
a  clear  perception  of  the  relation  of  class  to  class,  and  of 
their  lines  of  demarcation  t  And  may  we  not  expect  that 


ON  TIIE  PROGRESS  OF  ART  AND  SCIENCE.  21 

or  such  grounds,  the  very  language  of  Art  and  Industry, 
and  the  mode  of  regarding  the  relations  of  their  products, 
shall  bear  for  ever  the  impress  of  the  Great  Exhibition  of 
1851? 

There  is  one  other  remark  which  1  should  wish  to  make, 
suggested  by  the  classification  of  the  objects  of  the  Ex¬ 
hibition  ;  or,  rather,  a  remark  which  it  is  possible  to  express, 
only  because  we  have  such  a  classification  before  us.  It  is 
an  important  character  of  a  right  classification,  that  it  makes 
general  propositions  possible ;  a  maxim  which  we  may  safely 
regard  as  well  grounded,  since  it  has  been  delivered  in¬ 
dependently  by  two  persons,  no  less  different  from  one  an¬ 
other  than  Cuvier  and  Jeremy  Bentham.  Now,  in  accord¬ 
ance  with  this  maxim,  I  would  remark,  that  there  are 
general  reflections  appropriate  to  several  of  the  divisions 
into  which  the  Exhibition  is  by  its  classification  distributed. 
Eor  example :  let  us  compare  the  First  Class,  Mining  and 
Mineral  Products,  with  the  Second  Class,  Chemical  Pro¬ 
cesses  and  Products.  In  looking  at  these  two  classes,  wo 
may  see  some  remarkable  contrasts  between  them.  The 
first  class  of  arts,  those  which  are  employed  in  obtaining  and 
working  the  metals,  are  among  the  most  ancient ;  the  second, 
the  arts  of  manufacturing  chemical  products  on  a  large  scale, 
are  among  the  most  modern  which  exist.  In  the  former 
class,  as  I  have  said,  Art  existed  before  Science ;  men  could 
shape,  and  melt,  and  purify,  and  combine  the  metals  for 
their  practical  purposes,  before  they  knew  anything  of  the 
chemistry  of  metals;  before  they  knew  that  to  purify  them 
was  to  expel  oxygen  or  sulphur ;  that  combination  may  be 
definite  or  indefinite.  Tubal-Cain,  in  the  first  ages  of  the 
world,  was  “  the  instructer  of  every  artificer  in  brass  and 
iron but  it  was  very  long  before  there  came  an  instructer 
to  teach  what  was  the  philosophical  import  of  the  artificer’s 
practices.  In  this  case,  as  I  have  already  said,  Art  preceded 
Science  :  if  even  now  Science  has  overtaken  Art ;  if  even 
now  Science  can  tell  us  why  the  Swedish  steel  is  still  un¬ 
matched,  or  to  what  peculiar  composition  the  Toledo  blade 
owes  its  fine  temper,  which  allows  it  to  coil  itself  up  in  its 
sheath  when  its  rigid  thrust  is  not  needed.  Here  Art  has 
preceded  Science,  and  Science  has  barely  overtaken  Art. 
But  in  the  second  class,  Science  has  not  only  overtaken  Art, 


22  THE  GENERAL  BEARING  OE  THE  EXHIBITION 

but  is  the  whole  foundation,  the  entire  creator  of  the  art. 
Here  Art  is  the  daughter  of  Science.  The  great  chemical 
manufactories  which  have  sprung  up  at  Liverpool,  at  New¬ 
castle,  at  Glasgow,  owe  their  existence  entirely  to  a  pro¬ 
found  and  scientific  knowledge  of  chemistry.  These  arts 
never  could  have  existed  if  there  had  not  been  a  science  of 
chemistry ;  and  that,  an  exact  and  philosophical  science. 
These  manufactories  now  are  on  a  scale  at  least  equal  to  the 
largest  establishments  which  exist  among  the  successors  of 
Tubal-Cain.  They  occupy  spaces  not  smaller  than  that 
great  building  in  which  the  productions  of  all  the  arts  of  all 
the  world  were  gathered,  and  where  we  so  often  wandered 
till  our  feet  were  weary.  They  employ,  some  of  them,  five 
or  six  large  steam-engines;  they  shoot  up  the  obelisks  whicli 
convey  away  their  smoke  and  fumes  to  the  height  of  the 
highest  steeples  in  the  world;  they  occupy  a  population 
equal  to  that  of  a  town,  whose  streets  gather  round  the 
walls  of  the  mighty  workshop.*  Yet  these  processes  are  all 
derived  from  the  chemical  theories  of  the  last  and  the  pre¬ 
sent  century ;  from  the  investigations  carried  on  in  the 
laboratories  of  Scheele  and  Kirwan,  Berthollet  and  Lavoi¬ 
sier.  So  rapidly  in  this  case  has  the  tree  of  Art  blossomed 
from  the  root  of  Science ;  upon  so  gigantic  a  scale  have  the 
truths  of  Science  been  embodied  in  the  domain  of  Art. 

Again,  there  is  another  remark  which  we  may  make  in 
comparing  the  First  Class,  Minerals,  with  the  Third  Class ; 
or  rather  with  the  Fourth,  Vegetable  and  Animal  Sub¬ 
stances,  used  in  manufactures,  or  as  implements  or  orna¬ 
ments.  And  I  wish  to  speak  especially  of  vegetable,  sub¬ 
stances.  In  the  class  of  Minerals,  all  the  great  members 
of  the  class  are  still  what  they  were  in  ancient  times.  No 
doubt  a  number  of  new  metals  and  mineral  substances 
have  been  discovered;  and  these  have  their  use;  and  of 
these  the  Exhibition  presented  fine  examples.  But  still, 
their  use  is  upon  a  small  scale.  Gold  and  iron,  at  the  pre¬ 
sent  day,  as  in  ancient  times,  are  the  rulers  of  the  world ; 
and  the  great  events  in  the  world  of  mineral  art  are  not  the 
discovery  of  new  substances,  but  of  new  and  rich  localities 
of  old  ones, — the  opening  of  the  treasures  of  the  earth  in 


*  “Illustrated  Catalogue,”  p.  184. 


ON  THE  PROGRESS  OE  ART  AND  SCIENCE. 


23 


Mexico  and  Peru  in  the  sixteenth  century,  in  California  and 
Australia  in  our  own  day.  But  in  the  vegetable  world  the 
case  is  different;  there,  we  have  not  only  a  constant  accumu¬ 
lation  and  reproduction,  but  also  a  constantly  growing 
variety  of  objects,  fitted  to  the  needs  and  uses  of  man.  Tea, 
coffee,  tobacco,  sugar,  cotton,  have  made  man’s  life,  and  the 
arts  which  sustain  it,  very  different  from  what  they  were  in 
ancient  times.  And  no  one,  I  think,  can  have  looked  at 
the  vegetable  treasures  of  the  Crystal  Palace  without  seeing 
that  the  various  wealth  of  the  vegetable  world  is  far  from 
yet  exhausted.  The  Liverpool  Local  Committee  have 
enabled  us  to  take  a  starting-point  for  such  a  survey  by 
sending  to  the  Exhibition  a  noble  collection  of  specimens 
of  every  kind  of  import  of  that  great  emporium;  among 
which,  as  might  be  expected,  the  varieties  of  vegetable  pro¬ 
duce  are  the  most  numerous.  But  that  objects  should  be 
reckoned  among  imports ,  implies  that  already  they  are  ex¬ 
tensively  used.  If  we  look  at  the  multiplied  collections  of 
objects  of  the  same  kind,  some  from  various  countries,  not 
as  wares  to  a  known  market,  but  as  specimens  and  sug¬ 
gestions  of  unexplored  wealth,  we  can  have  no  doubt  that 
the  list  of  imports  will  hereafter,  with  great  advantage,  be 
enlarged.  Who  knows  what  beautiful  materials  for  the 
makers  of  furniture  are  to  be  found  in  the  collections  of 
woods  from  the  various  forests  of  the  Indian  Archipelago, 
or  of  Australia,  or  of  Tasmania,  or  of  New  Zealand?  Who 
knows  what  we  may  hereafter  discover  to  have  been  collected 
of  fruits  and  oils,  and  medicines  and  dyes;  of  threads  and 
cordage,  as  we  had  here  from  New  Zealand  and  from  China 
examples  of  such  novelties;  of  gums  and  vegetable  sub¬ 
stances,  which  may,  in  some  unforeseen  manner,  promote 
and  facilitate  the  processes  of  art  ?  IIow  recent  is  the  appli¬ 
cation  of  caoutchouc  to  general  purposes !  Yet  we  know 
now — and  on  this  occasion  America  would  have  taught  us 
if  we  had  not  known — that  there  is  scarcely  any  use  to 
which  it  may  not  be  applied  with  advantage.  If  a  teacher 
in  o\ir  time  were  to  construct  maxims  like  those  of  the  son 
of  Sirach  in  the  ancient  Jewish  times — like  him  who  says 
(Ecclus.  xxxix.  26),  “The  principal  things  for  the  whole 
use  of  man’s  life  are  water,  fire,  iron,  and  salt,  flour  of 
wheat,  honey,  milk,  and  the  blood  of  the  grape,  oil,  and 
clothing” — he  could  hardly  fail  to  make  additions  to  the  list, 


24  THE  GENERAL  BEARING  OF  THE  EXHIBITION 

and  these  would  be  from  the  vegetable  world.  Again,  how 
recent  is  the  discovery  of  the  uses  of  gutta  percha !  In  the 
great  collection  were  some  of  the  original  specimens  sent  by 
Dr.  Montgomery  to  the  India  House,  whence  specimens 
were  distributed  to  various  experimentalists.*  Pet  how 
various  and  peculiar  are  now  its  uses,  such  as  no  other  sub¬ 
stance  could  replace !  And  is  it  not  to  be  expected  that 
our  contemporaries,  joining  the  insight  of  science  to  the 
instinct  of  art,  shall  discover,  among  the  various  sources  of 
vegetable  wealth  which  the  Great  Exhibition  has  disclosed 
to  them,  substances  as  peculiar  and  precious,  in  the  manner 
of  their  utility,  as  those  aids  thus  recently  obtained  for  the 
uses  of  life  ? 

And  before  we  quit  this  subject,  let  us  reflect,  as  it  is 
impossible,  I  think,  not  to  reflect,  when  viewing  thus  the 
constantly  enlarging  sphere  of  the  utility  which  man  draws 
from  the  vegetable  world,  what  a  view  this  also  gives  us  of 
the  bounty  of  Providence  to  man,  thus  bringing  out  of  the 
earth,  in  every  varying  clime,  endless  forms  of  vegetable 
life,  of  which  so  many,  and  so  many  more  than  we  yet  can 
tell,  are  adapted  to  sustain,  to  cheer,  to  benefit,  to  delight 
man,  in  ways  ever  kind,  ever  large,  ever  new,  and  of  which 
the  novelty  itself  is  a  new  source  of  delighted  contemplation. 

I  might  go  on  to  make  other  reflections  upon  the  peculiar 
characters  of  the  various  classes  of  the  Great  Exhibition,  but 
the  time  does  not  allow  me,  nor  is  it  needful,  since  all  that 
I  aspired  to  do  was  to  offer  to  you  specimens  of  such  re¬ 
flections.  Several  of  the  classes  will,  no  doubt,  suggest  ap¬ 
propriate  reflections  to  those  who  have  to  deliver  lectures  to 
you  on  special  subjects.  In  the  mean  time,  though  I  must 
now  hasten  to  a  conclusion,  I  cannot  but  perceive  how  im¬ 
perfectly  I  have  discharged  even  the  limited  task  which  I 
ventured  to  undertake.  For  I  have  as  yet  said  nothing  of 
the  effect  which  must  be  produced  upon  art  and  science  by 
this  gathering  of  so  many  of  the  artists  and  scientists  (if  I 
may  use  the  word)  of  the  world  together;  by  their  joint 
study  of  the  productions  of  art  from  every  land,  by  their 
endeavours  to  appreciate  and  estimate  the  merits  of  produc¬ 
tions,  and  instruments  of  production ;  of  works  of  thought, 
skill,  and  beauty. 


*  “Illustrated  Catalogue,”  p.  876. 


ON  THE  PROGRESS  OP  ART  AND  SCIENCE.  25 

In  speculating  concerning  universities,  we  are  accustomed 
to  think  that,  without  underrating  the  effect  of  lectures  and 
tasks,  of  professors  and  teachers,  still  that  among  the  most 
precious  results  of  such  institutions  is  the  effect  produced 
upon  those  who  resort  thither  by  their  intercourse  with, 
and  influence  upon,  each  other.  We  know  that  by  such 
intercourse  there  is  gen  ’rated  a  community  of  view,  a 
mutual  respect,  and  a  general  sympathy,  with  regard  to  tho 
elements  of  a  liberal  education,  and  the  business  of  national, 
social,  and  individual  life,  which  clings  to  men  ever  after, 
and  tends  to  raise  all  to  the  level  of  the  best.  And  some 
such  effect  as  this  would,  we  may  suppose,  be  produced 
upon  the  students  of  the  useful  and  the  beautiful  arts  by 
their  resort  to  any  university  in  common.  To  any  univer¬ 
sity,  I  have  said ;  but  to  what  a  university  have  they  been 
resorting  during  the  past  term  ?  To  a  University  of  which 
the  Colleges  are  all  the  great  workshops  and  workyards, 
the  schools  and  societies  of  arts,  manufactures,  and  com¬ 
merce,  of  mining  and  building,  of  inventing  and  executing 
in  every  land — Colleges  in  which  great  chemists,  great 
mechanists,  great  naturalists,  great  inventors,  are  already 
working,  in  a  professional  manner,  to  aid  and  develope  all 
that  capital,  skill,  and  enterprise  can  do.  Coming  from  such 
Colleges  to  the  central  University,  may  we  not  well  look 
upon  it  as  a  great  epoch  in  the  life  of  the  Material  Arts, 
that  they  have  thus  begun  their  university  career — that 
they  have  had  the  advantage  of  such  academical  arrange¬ 
ments  as  there  have  been  found,  and  still  more,  as  I  have 
said,  that  they  have  had  the  greater  advantage  of  inter¬ 
course  with  each  other  ?  May  we  not  except  that  from  this 
time  the  eminent  producers  and  manufacturers,  artisans  and 
artists,  in  every  department  of  art,  and  in  every  land,  will 
entertain  for  each  other  an  increased  share  of  regard  and 
good-will,  of  sympathy  in  the  great  objects  which  man’s 
office  as  producer  and  manufacturer,  artisan  and  artist, 
places  before  him — of  respect  for  each  other’s  characters, 
and  for  the  common  opinion  of  their  body,  all  increased  by 
their  being  able  to  say,  “  We  were  students  together  at  the 
Great  University  in  1851  V’ 

November  26,  1851. 


. 


LECTURE  II. 


MINING,  QUARRYING,  AND  METALLURGICAL 
PROCESSES  AND  PRODUCTS. 


SIR  HENRY  T.  DE  LA  BECHE, 

C.B.,  F.R.S. 


(27) 


SIR  HENRY  T.  DE  L.\.  BECHE 


ON 


MINING,  QUARRYING,  AND  METALLURGICAL 
PROCESSES  AND  PRODUCTS. 


Mineral  matter,  unlike  animal  and  vegetable  substances, 
cannot,  in  its  original  or  natural  state,  be  modified  by  man 
for  his  use.  While  he  can  obtain  important  varieties  of 
animal  substances,  by  treatment  of  the  animals  themselves, 
or  by  perpetuating  certain  varieties  of  them,  and  can,  by 
culture,  produce  valuable  modifications  in  plants,  or  their 
parts,  no  skill  of  his  can  alter  the  natural  condition  of  an 
ore  in  the  mine.  His  power  commences  with  that  of  dis¬ 
covering  the  mineral  matter  required  by  him.  Mineral 
substances  have  thus  to  be  regarded,  industrially,  as  essen¬ 
tially  connected  with  the  means  of  extraction  and  the  after 
processes  by  which  they  are  rendered  available  for  use. 
WThile  plants  and  animals  differ  in  various  regions  of  the 
earth,  and  the  traffic  connected  with  the  raw  materials  they 
afford  is  adjusted  to  this  difference,  mineral  matter  of  the 
same  character  may  be  discovered  in  any  part  of  the  world, 
at  the  Equator  or  towards  the  Poles ;  at  the  summit  of  the 
loftiest  mountains,  and  in  works  far  beneath  the  level  of  the 
sea.  The  granite  of  Australia  does  not  necessarily  differ 
from  that  of  the  British  Islands ;  and  ores  of  the  metals 
may  (the  proper  geological  conditions  prevailing)  be  found 
of  the  same  general  character  in  all  regions.  Climate  and 
3*  (29) 


80  MINING,  QUARRYING,  AND  METALLURGICAL 

geographical  position  have  no  influence  on  the  composition 
of  mineral  substances. 

Though  geographical  position  has  no  influence  on  natural 
mineral  substances,  except  so  far  as  modifications  may  be 
produced  by  the  action  of  the  atmosphere,  it  may,  never¬ 
theless,  constitute  a  most  important  element  among  those 
on  which  depend  the  actual  uses  of  those  substances.  All 
other  conditions  being  equal,  it  may  decide  their  extraction 
or  non-extraction.  Even  important  minerals  may  be  so 
situated  as  to  be  unproductive  of  advantage  to  those  endea¬ 
vouring  to  obtain  them  for  use.  No  doubt,  geographical 
position  may  be  modified  by  the  labour  of  man,  and  so  that 
the  mineral  matter  in  the  same  locality,  which  could  not  be 
profitably  raised  at  one  time,  may  be  most  advantageously 
worked  at  another.  The  condition  of  man,  therefore,  oc¬ 
cupying  different  areas  on  the  earth’s  surface  as  nations, 
becomes  an  element  of  the  utmost  importance  as  regards 
the  useful  extraction  of  mineral  substances.  The  condi¬ 
tions  under  which  such  divisions  of  mankind  may  exist,  their 
laws  and  customs,  are  important  to  the  developement  of  any 
mineral  wealth,  as  it  were,  latent  in  the  areas  occupied  by 
them.  These  may  either  tend  to  impede  or  promote  that 
developement;  and  the  different  divisions  of  men  may,  by 
their  regulations,  act  most  variably  on  each  other,  and, 
instead  of  advancing  their  common  good,  introduce  systems 
of  mutual  checks,  to  the  disadvantage  of  all. 

The  more  advanced  a  nation,  the  greater,  under  equal 
general  conditions,  is  its  power  over  the  disadvantages 
which  may  happen  to  be  presented  by  geographical  posi¬ 
tion,  thus  producing  facilities  for  the  developement  of  its 
mineral  wealth.  The  cost  of  transport — that  frequent  im¬ 
pediment  to  the  profitable  working  of  mineral  substances — 
may  become  so  lessened  by  addition  to  easy  communica¬ 
tions  of  various  kinds,  that  finally  the  working  of  mineral 
substances  can  be  changed  from  unprofitable  to  profitable. 
In  the  cases  of  many  ores,  these  and  the  fuel  needed  for 
smelting  them  may  be  brought  together  by  facility  and 
cheapness  of  conveyance,  so  that  industries,  new  to  a  land, 
may  spring  up. 

Although  man,  by  his  general  advance,  may  thus  accom¬ 
plish  much  for  the  developement  of  mineral  wealth,  there 


PROCESSES  AND  PRODUCTS. 


31 


are  natural  limits  to  liis  progress  which  cannot  he  overcome. 
Although  ho  may  effect  the  easy  transport  of  mineral  mat¬ 
ter  over  rivers  and  valleys,  and  even  through  portions  of 
the  earth  itself,  either  by  his  canals  or  his  roads,  and  thus, 
as  regards  such  transport,  change  the  face  of  a  country 
from  one  of  difficulty  to  one  of  facility,  the  greater  geogra¬ 
phical  arrangements  remain  unaltered.  He  cannot  change 
an  inland  country,  in  the  central  position  of  a  continent, 
to  a  maritime  state,  though  he  can  materially  modify  its 
position  as  to  the  ready  means  of  transport  to  the  coast. 
An  inland  locality  may  pour  in  its  mineral  products,  by 
means  of  increased  facilities  of  transport,  upon  a  sea-port, 
so  that  not  only  may  they  replace  similar  substances  pro¬ 
duced  at  greater  cost  near  such  a  port,  but,  by  means  of 
the  sea,  be  transported  even  far  to  other  lands,  competing 
in  their  markets,  should  the  regulations  of  the  nations 
holding  them  permit,  with  those  which  had  hitherto  satis¬ 
fied  them. 

The  profitable  developement  of  mineral  wealth  will, 
therefore,  depend  upon  the  natural  occurrence  of  mineral 
substances,  due  to  geological  causes — upon  the  geographical 
position  of  the  localities  where  the  useful  mineral  substances 
are  present, — and  upon  the  condition  of  man  in  a  given 
area.  The  first  condition  is  unalterable  by  man,  the  re¬ 
maining  two  may  be  most  materially  modified  by  him. 

As  mineral  matter  in  its  first,  or  natural  state,  cannot  be 
modified  by  man,  it  becomes  important  that  when  specimens 
of  it  are  shown  as  illustrative  of  mineral  wealth,  especial 
reference  should  be  made  to  those  processes  by  which  such 
mineral  matter  is  rendered  useful.  AVithout  this  precau¬ 
tion  much  misconception  may  arise.  Let  us,  for  example, 
consider  the  ores  of  the  metals.  The  mere  exhibition  of 
any  ore,  however  rich,  is  in  itself  of  little  value  beyond 
the  information  that  the  specimen  came  from  some  stated 
locality.  The  circumstances  connected  with'its  mode  of 
occurrence,  and  with  the  means  at  command  to  render  its 
extraction  useful,  are  essential.  Pieces  of  rich  ores  are  of 
frequent  occurrence  in  localities  where,  from  a  want  of 
their  sufficient  abundance,  it  would  be  useless  to  attempt 
any  profitable  working  of  them.  Hence  collections  of  ores 
may  often  be  most  fallacious,  indeed  it  is  unfortunately 


32  MINING,  QUARRYING,  AND  METALLURGICAL 

somewhat  too  common  to  find  specimens  of  ores  shown  as 
the  ordinary  products  of  mines  where  they  are  really  rari¬ 
ties,  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the  purchase  of  shares 
in  such  mines.  There  is  a  name  for  such  specimens  in 
Cornwall,  where  they  are  termed  Slocking  stones.  These 
really  come  from  the  mines,  but  they  are  unfair  representa¬ 
tions  of  their  produce. 

Again,  it  often  happens,  that  without  the  slightest  inten¬ 
tion  of  producing  erroneous  impressions,  proprietors  or  agents, 
when  requested  to  transmit  specimens  of  their  ores,  will  select, 
instead  of  such  as  show  the  general  quality  of  those  raised, 
some  fine  example  of  their  best  ores,  a  good  stone  of  ore ,  as 
it  is  often  technically  termed,  while  at  the  same  time  the 
mine  itself  may  be  returning  large  profits  by  the  working 
and  dressing  of  comparatively  poor  ores,  operations  of  which 
the  agents  might  be  justly  proud;  not  the  slightest  deception 
is  intended,  but  nevertheless  a  collection  of  such  specimens 
becomes  extremely  fallacious,  and  conceals  and  does  not 
exhibit  the  real  industry  both  required  and  employed.  The 
teaching  influence  proposed  by  collections  of  ores  is  defeated 
alike  by  both  the  causes  above  mentioned.  Most  important 
knowledge  of  its  kind  is  sacrificed,  and  the  public  misled  by 
impressions  received  from  gazing  on  a  mass  of  glittering 
objects,  instead  of  carefully  considering  the  kind  of  mineral 
substances  which  really  produce,  by  the  industry  of  man, 
the  metals  so  essential  for  his  welfare  and  progress. 

As  these  Lectures  are  not  intended  to  interfere  with  the 
reports  of  the  juries,  it  would  be  out  of  place  to  enter  upon 
systematic  details  respecting  the  class  now  under  considera¬ 
tion.  Ample  information  will  be  found  regarding  these  in 
the  report  of  my  colleague,  M.  Dufrenoy,  than  whom  no 
one  could  be  better  qualified  for  the  task,  by  talents,  ex¬ 
perience,  position,  or  love  of  justice.  Looking  at  the  Exhi¬ 
bition  as  the.mcans  to  a  great  end,  and  not  the  end  itself, 
its  bearing  on  the  future  may,  probably,  be  best  illustrated 
by  a  selection  of  subjects,  which  should  show  deficiencies  as 
well  as  important  exhibitions.  The  one  may  be  as  valuable 
for  progress  as  the  other,  if  carefully  considered  and  rightly 
understood. 

As  fuel  is  at  the  base  of  all  the  operations  the  products 
of  which  have  found  a  place  in  the  late  Exhibition,  the 


PROCESSES  AND  PRODUCTS. 


33 


power  of  producing  fire  being  peculiar  to  man,  and  one 
without  which  his  range  on  the  earth’s  surface  would  be 
very  limited,  and  his  advance  trifling,  it  may,  in  the  first 
instance,  be  desirable  to  glance  at  that  portion  of  fuel  which 
is  included  in  Class  I. 

All  our  mineral,  or,  as  it  has  been  termed,  fossil  fuel, 
is  derived  from  vegetable  matter,  the  growth  of  various 
geological  times,  and  of  different  regions,  embedded  amid 
detrital  matter  of  various  kinds  from  local  circumstances, 
and  presenting  modified  aspects  in  accordance  with  the 
general  physical  and  chemical  conditions  to  which  it  has 
been  subjected.  Its  chief  divisions,  for  industrial  purposes, 
may  be  regarded  as  lignite  (the  brown  coal  of  the  Germans), 
and  coal,  the  latter  of  various  kinds.  Indeed  the  whole  con¬ 
stitutes  a  series,  at  which  woody  matter,  but  slightly  altered, 
is  at  one  end,  and  stone-coal,  or  anthracite,  is  at  the  other. 
It  may  suffice  for  our  present  purpose,  to  mention  that  the 
physical  and  chemical  conditions  above  mentioned  are  the 
causes  of  these  differences,  and  have  been  of  such  an  order 
that  the  proportion  of  the  oxygen  and  hydrogen  of  the  ori¬ 
ginal  vegetable  substance  became  gradually  diminished  as 
regards  the  other  two  component  parts,  carbon  and  nitrogen, 
so  that  the  carbon  greatly  predominates,  and  stone-coai,  or 
anthracite,  is  the  result. 

Now,  the  character  of  these  fossil  fuels  is  of  the  greatest 
importance  in  their  varied  uses,  the  products  of  many  opera¬ 
tions  depending  upon  it,  especially  certain  metallurgical 
processes.  As  this  character  does  not  necessarily  depend 
upon  geological  age — though,  as  a  whole,  the  older  rocks 
usually  contain  only  that  state  of  fossil  fuel  known  as  coal 
of  some  kind, — it  may  be  expected  to  vary  materially  in 
different  parts  of  the  world.  The  kind  of  fossil  fuel  found 
may  determine  the  developement  of  certain  branches  of  in¬ 
dustry,  other  circumstances  being  favourable. 

That  mineral  fuel  should  be  much  represented  in  the 
Exhibition  was  scarcely  to  be  expected.  Its  jjrcsence,  in¬ 
deed,  from  lands  where  it  was  not  generally  known  to  be 
found,  might  be  advantageous,  especially  if  accompanied  by 
proper  information  as  to  its  mode  of  occurrence,  and  proba¬ 
ble  abundance  and  power  of  extraction.  For  example,  it 
was  important  to  examine  specimens  of  coal  from  New 


34  MINING,  QUARRYING,  AND  METALLURGICAL 

Zealand,  and  learn  the  thickness  and  dip  of  the  beds  of 
some  of  them;  and  inspect  others  from  Labnan,  where  the 
Eastern  Archipelago  Company  are  now  working  a  nine-feet 
bed.  The  importance  of  such  localities  for  the  supply  of 
fossil  fuel,  as  regards  steam-navigation,  is  evident.  Look¬ 
ing,  however,  at  the  demand  for,  and  supply  of,  fossil  fuel 
of  various  kinds  in  well-known  lands,  as  for  instance,  in  our 
own,  it  may  be  very  much  doubted  if  any  mere  exhibition 
of  a  few  specimens,  without  regard  to  general  views  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  coals  may  be  variably  employed,  could 
be  viewed  as  instructive.  There  were,  however,  some  good 
individual  illustrations, — as  for  example,  that  of  the  thick 
or  ten-yard  Staffordshire  coal, — showing  the  different  work¬ 
ing  scams,  alike  interesting  to  science  and  coal-mining. 

In  this  and  several  other  cases,  where  huge  masses  of 
coal  wei’e  sent  from  some  of  the  British  collieries,  we  have 
excellent  examples  of  the  disinterested  aid  afforded  to  the 
Exhibition.  The  greater  proportion  of  these  exhibitors 
could  look  for  no  return  whatever,  except  the  gratification 
of  having  assisted  a  cause  which  they  considered  to  be  good. 
It  was  not  probable  that  ten  tons  of  their  coals  would  b* 
altered  in  their  mode  of  consumption  except  by  new  adjust¬ 
ments  and  demands  not  depending  upon  the  Exhibition, 
though  the  cost  they  incurred  was  often  heavy,  in  raising 
and  transmitting  their  specimens. 

As  regards  the  coals  of  the  world,  it  is  well  known  that, 
though  our  country  may  not  be  that  containing  the  largest 
amount  of  fossil  fuel  (the  United  States  far  exceeding  us  in 
this  respect),  it  is  at  the  present  moment,  nevertheless,  the 
land  in  which  the  largest  amount  is  raised.  The  annual 
weight  raised  in  this  country  is  usually  now  estimated  as 
equal  to  35,000,000  tons,  or,  taking  the  ton  of  coal  as 
equal  to  about  a  cubic  yard,  more  than  eleven  square  miles 
of  a  bed  of  coal,  three  feet  thick,  supposing  the  whole  of 
the  coal  removed.  Of  this  large  amount  about  2,728,000 
tous  are  exported,  leaving  the  remainder,  or  32,272,000 
tons,  for  domestic  and  industrial  consumption,  the  portion 
devoted  to  the  latter  being  largely  employed  for  the  smelt¬ 
ing  of  our  ores,  especially  those  of  iron.  The  annual  pro¬ 
duce  of  our  collieries  may,  indeed,  exceed  35,000,000,  and 
more  nearly  approach  40,000,000.  Steps  are  being  taken 


PROCESSES  AND  PRODUCTS.  35 

at  the  Museum  of  Practical  Geology  in  order  to  obtain 
more  correct  data  on  this  head. 

As  illustrative  of  the  importance  of  our  position  as  a 
maritime  state,  combined  with  our  possession  of  cheap  heat, 
well  situated,  the  copper  smelting  of  Swansea,  with  that  of 
Neath,  Tai-baeh,  and  Llanelly  in  its  vicinity,  may  be  ad¬ 
vantageously  adduced.  We  there  find,  in  addition  to  the 
greater  portion  of  the  copper  raised  in  the  British  Islands, 
cargoes  of  that  ore,  and  of  what  is  termed  the  regulus  of 
copper,  brought  round  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  from  Aus¬ 
tralia  in  one  direction,  and  round  Cape  Horn  from  Chili  and 
other  South  American  lands  in  another.  Altogether  the 
copper  smelting  of  South  Wales  forms  an  excellent  illustra¬ 
tion  of  the  advantageous  union  of  geological  and  geographi¬ 
cal  conditions,  combined  with  a  state  of  man  in  a  given  area 
fitted  to  seize  and  utilize  those  conditions. 

Though  regarding  the  specimens  of  coal  as  such,  and  un¬ 
connected  with  processes  to  which  they  were  material,  the 
Exhibition  might  be  defective,  it  contained  important  illus¬ 
trations  of  the  mode  of  occurrence  and  of  extraction  of  coal. 
Among  the  maps,  sections,  and  collections  connected  with 
this  subject,  the  exhibition  from  the  coal  district  of  North¬ 
umberland  and  Durham  should  be  cited.  It  formed  an  im¬ 
portant  series  of  illustrations,  comprising  maps,  sections, 
specimens  of  the  various  coals,  the  rocks  by  which  they  are 
accompanied,  plans  of  the  mode  of  working  the  collieries, 
sections  of  pits,  and  the  machinery  in  them,  with  the  safety- 
lamps  used  in  the  district — a  highly  valuable  series,  and  one 
formed  expressly  for  the  Exhibition.  A  beautiful  model  by 
Mr.  Nicholas  Wood  exhibited  the  methods  of  working  coal 
in  the  northern  counties.  There  were  others  also  in  the 
English  department  alike  instructive,  as  directing  attention 
to  that  important  subject,  the  ventilation  of  collieries,  one 
which  has  so  justly  of  late  attracted  public  attention.  Much 
good  may,  no  doubt,  arise  from  the  appointment  of  in¬ 
spectors  of  collieries  in  the  different  districts  in  this  country ; 
but  the  more  effective  saving  of  life  from  colliery  explosions 
must  be  looked  for  in  the  instruction  generally  of  the  coal¬ 
miners  themselves.  The  amount  of  mischief  arising  from 
the  foolhardiness  of  ignorance  in  our  collieries  can  only  be 
credited  by  those  who  are  compelled  to  employ  men  with  a 


36  MINING,  QUARRYING,  AND  METALLURGICAL 

want  of  education  they  deplore,  or  who  have,  in  discharge 
of  duties,  visited  coal-mines  after  fearful  and  desolating  ex¬ 
plosions.  Safety-lamps  are  important  in  connexion  with  this 
subject.  In  addition  to  those  usually  employed  in  this 
country,  there  were  two  from  Belgium,  where,  as  well  as  in 
France,  much  attention  is  paid  to  the  proper  ventilation  of 
collieries  by  the  Government  authorities. 

As  relating  to  the  ventilation  of  collieries,  a  model  of 
opening  and  closing  the  doors  in  them,  by  the  passage  of  the 
horses  and  wagons,  or  of  the  men,  without  the  attendance 
of  boys  or  others  for  the  purpose,  had  very  important  bear¬ 
ings,  so  many  accidents  having  occurred  from  the  ventilation 
being  disarranged  by  leaving  open  such  doors.  It  was  a 
good  case  of  a  valuable  contrivance,  apparently  little  known 
beyond  the  colliery  itself — the  Foxhole  Colliery,  near  Swan¬ 
sea — being  made  more  extensively  so  by  means  of  the  Ex¬ 
hibition. 

As  connected  in  the  Exhibition  with  collieries,  though  in 
reality  applicable  to  shafts  generally  in  mines,  we  should 
here  mention  the  very  important  method  adopted  by  Mr. 
E.  Rogers  of  sinking  shafts  at  Abercarn  Colliery,  Mon¬ 
mouthshire.  By  employing  electricity  in  blasting,  he  is 
enabled  to  explode  three  or  more  holes,  inclined  to  each 
other  in  the  depth,  simultaneously;  and  thus  lifts  a  large 
mass  at  once  from  the  centre  of  the  sinking,  other  large 
masses  being  in  like  manner  afterwards  detached  from  the 
surrounding  portions  towards  the  sides.  By  thus  calling  in 
the  aid  of  electricity,  and  by  employing  gutta-percha  tubes 
of  great  size  in  connexion  with  the  pumps,  and  so  avoiding 
the  destruction  of  the  usual  arrangements,  which  frequently 
take  place  during  blasts  while  sinking  a  pit,  better  work  is 
accomplished,  with  greater  rapidity,  and  at  less  cost  than 
by  the  ordinary  methods.  This  successful  application  of 
science  and  of  modern  knowledge  is  deserving  of  all  atten¬ 
tion  by  miners. 

That  there  has  been,  and  unfortunately  still  is,  great 
waste  in  our  collieries,  viewed  as  a  whole,  however  the  work¬ 
ing  of  some  districts  may  exceed  that  of  others  (and  even 
those  not  over  remarkable  for  progress,  may  yet  exhibit 
valuable  exceptions),  has  been  long  known,  and  often 
pointed  out.  It  was,  therefore,  an  advance  in  the  right 


PROCESSES  AND  PRODUCTS. 


37 


direction,  when  the  small  coals,  sometimes  consumed  at  the 
pit’s  mouth,  at  others  thrown  back  in  the  workings,  were 
used  for,  as  they  have  been  termed,  th e  patent  fuels.  There 
are  now  many  of  them  of  different  kinds,  applicable  to  differ¬ 
ent  purposes,  according  to  composition.  In  them  the  small 
coal  is  usually  cemented  by  some  bituminous  substance,  press¬ 
ure  being  employed.  One  kind  in  the  Exhibition  was  shown 
by  Mr.  Azulay,  in  which  great  compression  alone  caused  the 
particles  of  the  coal-dust  to  cohere.  In  Warlich’s  process, 
specimens  of  which  were  also  exhibited,  after  the  small  coal  is 
made  to  cohere  with  some  bituminous  body  by  pressure,  there- 
suiting  bricks  are  exposed  to  heat,  in  order  to  decompose  the 
bituminous  substance,  the  heat  being  graduated  according 
to  the  use  to  be  made  of  the  fuel.  This  is  a  highly  impor¬ 
tant  point  in  the  patent  fuel  employed  for  steam  purposes, 
since,  by  carefully  selecting  a  proper  coal,  and  heating  the 
brick  so  as  to  coke  the  cementing  matter  without  injury  to 
the  coal  employed,  a  very  useful  product  for  steam-ships 
may  be  obtained. 

In  the  French  department,  and  in  a  small  case,  accom¬ 
panied  by  a  description  and  explanatory  drawing,  the  whole 
seldom  heeded  amid  more  showy  objects,  were  to  be  seen 
some  sorted  and  crushed  coals,  with  a  few  pieces  of  coke, 
having  an  important  bearing  upon  the  employment  of  cheap 
and  effective  heat.  It  illustrated  the  method  of  M.  Berard 
for  separating  foreign  matter,  such  as  iron  pyrites  and  slate, 
from  coal.  Its  general  principle  was  that  of  the  “jigging- 
machine”  of  the  miners,  for  separating  ores,  after  crushing, 
from  the  stony  matter  with  which  they  may  be  associated, 
by  agitating  the  whole  in  water,  so  that  the  various  portions 
become  arranged  according  to  their  specific  gravities.  The 
apparatus,  which  it  would  require  the  needful  drawings  to 
explain  properly,  is  remarkably  ingenious,  and  the  result 
certain.  In  a  country  like  ours,  where  coal  is  abundant, 
such  a  method  might,  at  first  sight,  appear  little  wanted. 
The  Exhibition  was  not,  however,  intended  for  this  land 
alone,  but  for  “  all  nations  •”  so  that  the  application  of  such 
a  method  becomes  most  important  in  many,  numerous  small 
seams,  or  coals  with  much  iron  pyrites,  rendering  them,  in 
common  parlance,  u  sulphurous,”  and  otherwise  valueless, 
4 


38  MINING,  QUARRYING,  AND  METALLURGICAL 

being  rendered  worth  working  by  its  use.  Its  value  is, 
however,  also  understood  in  our  country ;  for,  we  are  in¬ 
formed,  works  are  now  erecting  for  its  employment  at  New¬ 
castle.  By  using  the  method  of  M.  Berard,  the  Chemin 
de  Fer  du  Nord,  France,  was  enabled  to  employ  a  coal  pre¬ 
viously  found  injurious  to  the  locomotives,  and  a  considera¬ 
ble  saving  was  effected.  The  reduction  of  ash  in  the  washed 
coal  was  very  considerable. 

Not  to  dwell  longer  upon  mineral  fuel,  important  as  ex¬ 
tended  views  of  that  subject  might  be,  did  time  permit,  it 
may  now  be  desirable  briefly  to  consider  the  ores  of  the 
useful  metals.  The  subject  of  metal  mining  includes  a 
consideration  of  the  ores,  as  such ;  their  mode  of  occurrence 
in  the  ground ;  the  methods  employed  for  their  extraction  ; 
and  the  means  adopted  for  “  dressing”  them,  as  it  is  termed, 
or  of  rendering  them  marketable.  The  smelter  then  receives 
them,  and  by  such  metallurgical  processes  as  may  be  suitable 
produces  the  metal. 

Respecting  the  fallacious  impressions  which  the  inspection 
of  mere  specimens  of  ores  may  convey,  some  remarks  have 
already  been  offered.  No  doubt,  ores  commonly  called  of  the 
same  kind  differ,  by  containing  foreign  substances,  making 
a  material  alteration  in  the  labours  of  the  smelter.  This  is 
a  subject  of  great  importance,  requiring  all  the  skill  of  the 
metallurgist.  Small  additions  of  peculiar  substances  pro¬ 
duce  great  modifying  influences.  Many  a  smelter  finds  him¬ 
self  at  fault  as  to  the  causes  of  certain  deteriorations  of 
produce  which  the  scientific  metallurgist  traces  to  the  ore ; 
and  here  Science  steps  in  and  aids  that  ordinary  practice 
which  might  be  sufficiently  successful  so  long  as  ores  of  the 
ordinary  composition — those  to  which  the  smelter  has  been 
accustomed — were  operated  upon. 

Specimens  of  ores  are  valuable  when  selected  to  illustrate 
important  points  of  this  kind,  or  when  they  accompany  illus¬ 
trations  of  their  mode  of  occurrence,  modifications  in  conse¬ 
quence  of  that  mode  of  occurrence,  or  arc  connected  with 
processes  and  their  results.  With  the  exception  of  the  last, 
the  ores  of  the  Exhibition  possessed  scarcely  any  of  these 
conditions;  indeed,  some  were  sent  from  mines  which,  as 
previously  mentioned,  should  have  been  justly  proud  of 
their  methods  of  dressing  ores  of  ordinary,  and  even  low 


PROCESSES  AND  PRODUCTS. 


39 


quality ;  yet  the  specimens  transmitted  were  rich,  requiring 
no  refined  means  of  treatment.  There  were,  nevertheless, 
very  rich  specimens  from  some  parts  of  the  world,  known 
to  represent  considerable  masses  of  the  same  kind ;  as,  for 
example,  the  Burra-Burra  mines  of  South  Australia  have 
furnished  to  commerce  a  large  amount  of  valuable  copper 
ores  similar  to  those  exhibited,  and  many  a  mass  of  mala¬ 
chite  from  them,  which  might,  as  in  Russia,  have  been 
extensively  employed  in  works  of  art,  has  passed  beneath 
the  hammer  and  crushers,  and  into  the  furnace.  Small  as 
the  metal  exhibition  of  Sweden  may  have  been,  the  ores 
sent  were  good  examples  of  those  whence  the  fine  iron  of 
that  land  is  obtained.  In  like  manner,  there  was  no  reason 
to  doubt  that  the  rich  iron  ores  of  the  United  States  and  of 
Canada  did  fairly  represent  masses  of  the  like  ores  in  those 
countries;  and  so  also  with  ores  from  some  other  lands. 
Looking,  however,  at  those  shown  generally,  the  previous 
remarks  were  needed. 

One  of  the  most  important  series  of  ores  in  the  Exhibi¬ 
tion,  viewed  with  reference  to  its  object,  and,  coupled  with 
the  information  with  which  it  was  accompanied,  as  illustra¬ 
ting  a  particular  mineral  produce  in  a  given  country,  was 
that  of  the  iron  ores  of  Great  Britain,  collected  and  sent  by 
Mr.  Samuel  Blackwell.  It  was  formed  at  both  much  trouble 
and  cost  by  its  exhibitor,  and  for  no  other  purpose  than  to 
render  good  service  to  the  Great  Exhibition,  in  the  first 
place,  and  to  the  stores  of  the  Museum  of  Practical  Geo¬ 
logy,  to  which  it  was  presented  for  national  use,  in  the 
second. 

The  ores  in  this  collection  are  of  two  kinds ;  the  one, 
known  as  clay  ironstone — an  indifferent  name — is  funda¬ 
mentally  a  carbonate  of  iron,  mingled  variably  with  the 
matter  of  the  ancient  mud  and  silt,  among  which  it  was 
originally  deposited,  and  from  which  it  has,  under  geolo¬ 
gical  conditions,  been  separated  into  continuous  beds  or 
ranges  of  nodules.  The  amount  of  metal  in  the  ore  depends 
upon  that  of  the  carbonate  of  iron  in  it.  In  the  ordinary 
carbonates  of  iron  (which  are  still  not  quite  pure),  known 
as  spathose  iron,  and  of  which  there  were  specimens  from 
Austria,  the  Zollverein,  and  other  places,  there  is  usually 
from  fifty  to  sixty  per  cent,  of  protoxide  of  iron.  In  the 


40  MINING,  QUARRYING,  AND  METALLURGICAL 

clay  ironstones  the  metallic  iron  ranges  sometimes  up  to 
forty  per  cent.  The  clay  ironstones  are  most  important  to 
Great  Britain,  the  greater  part  being  found  associated  with 
the  coal-beds  in  our  coal  measures,  and  so  that  they  are 
worked  with,  or  near  to  each  other.  From  these  ores  more 
than  2,000,000  tons  of  iron  are  now  made  in  this  country. 
Besides  those  in  the  Blackwell  Collection  numerous  speci¬ 
mens  of  these  ores  were  to  be  found  attached  to  illustrations 
of  the  products  of  different  iron-works. 

The  other  iron  ores  in  the  Blackwell  Collection  were 
varieties  of  the  oxides,  chiefly  haematites,  the  quantity  of 
metallic  iron  in  which,  when  the  ore  is  good,  is  from  sixty 
to  seventy  per  cent.  The  amount  of  haematite  ores  worked 
in  this  country,  though  they  are  abundant,  is  not  compara¬ 
tively  considerable.  It  is,  however,  smelted  alone,  and  there 
were  illustrations  of  this  in  the  Exhibition ;  and  it  is,  also, 
mixed  with  the  clay  ironstones  in  many  furnaces. 

llespecting  the  mode  of  occurrence  of  ores — a  most  im¬ 
portant  point — the  Exhibition  did  not  furnish  many  illus¬ 
trations.  As  regards  specimens  of  that  character,  it  was 
not  to  be  expected  that  they  could  be  readily  sent.  Such 
collections  are  the  work  of  time;  requiring,  moreover,  a 
constant  attention  to  given  objects  of  inquiry,  in  connexion 
with  the  general  subject,  as  is  abundantly  proved  by  the 
difficulty  experienced  by  all  mining  schools  in  satisfying 
these  requirements.  We  have  a  fine  illustrative  collection 
of  this  kind  at  the  Museum  in  Jermyn  Street,  but  it  took 
us  sixteen  years,  with  all  our  opportunities,  and  the  hearty 
co-operation  of  able  men  in  the  mining  districts,  to  obtain 
it.  It  is  by  no  means  easy  to  find  proper  illustrations,  in 
sufficiently  moderate  volume  for  exhibition,  of  some  of  the 
chief  facts  observable  in  a  mineral  vein,  or  lode,  often  only 
to  be  seen  on  the  great  scale. 

With  respect  to  the  mode  of  occurrence  of  the  metal¬ 
liferous  ores,  it  may,  in  all  its  generality,  be  regarded  as 
twofold,  in  beds  or  layers,  or  filling  cracks,  fissures,  and 
other  cavities.  The  clay  ironstones,  and  certain  oxides, 
known  as  bog-iron  ore,  belong  to  the  former  division.  The 
alluvial,  or  other  detrital  beds,  in  which  gold  is  found,  as  in 
California,  Australia,  Russia,  and  many  other  lands,  may 
be  considered  as  also  included  in  it.  So,  likewise,  such 


PROCESSES  AND  PRODUCTS. 


41 


deposits  as  the  cupriferous  slates  of  Mansfield,  of  which 
there  were  specimens  in  the  Zollverein  department.  The 
sections  on  the  wall,  horizontal  and  vertical,  will  show  the 
mode  of  occurrence  of  the  clay  ironstones  with  the  associated 
coal-beds  in  Merthyr  Tydvil,  the  chief  locality  for  iron-works 
in  South  Wales.  In  such  districts  some  beds  of  ironstone, 
and  in  the  sections  before  you  many  are  shown,  bearing 
various  names,  often  present  constant  characters  for  con¬ 
siderable  distances,  while  others  are  more  variable  in  com¬ 
position  and  thickness. 

Looking  at  the  auriferous  beds  in  some  regions,  even 
those  from  which  much  gold  may,  as  a  whole,  be  obtained, 
we  must  often  regard  the  mode  of  occurrence  of  the  metal 
as,  taken  with  the  bed,  to  represent  a  poor  ore.  When,  as 
in  some  of  the  Russian  gold  washings,  two  hundred  tons 
of  the  detrital  mass  have  to  be  washed  and  examined,  to 
obtain  a  single  pound  weight  of  gold,  it  can  be  viewed  as 
little  else. 

The  best  illustration  to  be  found  in  the  Exhibition  of  the 
mode  of  occurrence  of  the  clay  ironstones  and  associated 
coal,  was  that  afforded  by  the  beautiful  model  accompany¬ 
ing  the  Ebbw  Vale  collections:  the  sequence  in  which,  from 
the  coals,  ironstone,  and  limestone  used,  through  the  models 
of  the  furnaces  to  the  various  products,  was  highly  instruc¬ 
tive  and  creditable  to  the  Company  exhibiting  them.  The 
model  was  formed  of  an  original  part  made  by  Mr.  Thomas 
Sopwith  (so  well  known  for  his  skill  in  that  department  as 
well  as  in  others),  to  which  the  Company  had  added  a  con¬ 
tinuation.  The  model  is  constructed  to  a  common  scale  for 
height  and  distance,  the  surface  represented  to  correspond 
with  the  actual  ground,  with  the  rivers,  roads,  fields,  and 
buildings,  while  the  lower  part  exhibits — every  coal  and 
ironstone  bed  being  shown — the  true  relative  positions  of 
the  various  beds,  with  the  works  which  have  been  carried 
on  upon  them.  Considering  how  completely  these  models 
may  be  made  to  record  all  the  workings,  and  how  far  supe¬ 
rior  they  are  to  the  usual  plans  and  sections,  it  appears 
surprising  that  they  should  not  be  more  used  than  they  are, 
affording,  as  they  do,  such  clear  and  accurate  information 
to  all  interested. 

As  to  illustrations  of  the  mode  of  occurrence  of  ores  in 

4  * 


42  MINING,  QUARRYING,  AND  METALLURGICAL 

mineral  veins  or  lodes,  tlie  most  instructive  and  important 
were  specimens  of  part  of  the  silver  lode  of  Kongsberg, 
Norway;  and  of  part  of  the  lead  lode  of  Grassington, 
Yorkshire,  sent  by  the  Duke  of  Devonshire.  A  few  large 
lead  specimens  in  the  English  department  exhibited  points 
of  interest ;  and  these,  with  some  specimens  in  the  South 
Australian  copper  series,  certain  of  the  iron  and  zinc  series 
in  the  American  collection,  a  few  specimens  from  Canada, 
a  few  mining  sections  from  Cornwall,  and  those  accompany¬ 
ing  the  exhibition  of  the  lead  series  of  Allenheads,  North¬ 
umberland,  may  be  said  to  complete  the  illustrations  of 
this  kind.  The  means  of  extracting  ores  from  the  metal¬ 
liferous  mines  were  but  slightly  represented.  There  were 
illustrations  of  safety  fuzes  for  blasting,  some  methods  of 
raising  and  lowering  the  miners  and  for  raising  the  ores, 
and  a  few  Cornish  mining  sections.  With  reference  to  this 
subject,  however,  a  large  and  beautiful  model  of  water- 
wheels,  connected  with  pumps  from  the  Devon  Great  Con¬ 
sols  Coppermines,  requires  especial  mention.  The  dressing 
of  ores  did  not  receive  overmuch  illustration.  There  was 
a  good  model  representing  the  methods  of  dressing  the 
inferior  copper  ores  of  Tywarnhayle  mines,  Cornwall ;  and 
it  may  be  deserving  of  remark  that,  although  the  produce 
of  Cornish  and  Devonian  ores  does  not  exceed  an  average 
of  about  eight  per  cent,  of  the  metal  after  the  ores  are 
dressed,  the  mines  of  that  district  have  been  estimated  as 
furnishing  one-third  of  the  copper  raised  throughout  other 
parts  of  Europe,  and  the  British  Islands.  The  Truro  com¬ 
mittee  sent  good  illustrations  of  preparing  tin  ore  for  the 
smelter,  and  there  were  also  some  other  illustrations  of 
dressing  tin  ore.  The  lead-dressing  of  the  Allenheads 
mines,  Northumberland,  was  well  shown;  and  the  Kongs¬ 
berg  (Norway)  series  exhibited  the  dressing  of  the  silver 
ores  of’  those  mines  in  a  detailed  manner. 

With  respect  to  the  metallurgical  processes  and  the 
metals  produced,  the  case  was  different,  more  especially  as 
regards  iron.  This  metal,  the  most  important  to  mankind, 
formed  the  chief  feature  in  Class  I.,  whether  in  the  British 
or  Foreign  departments.  There  were  some  excellent  illus¬ 
trations  from  different  British  iron-works,  including  the 
ores  and  fuel  employed.  The  various  kinds  of  iron  were 


PROCESSES  AND  PRODUCTS. 


43 


well  exhibited.  The  Ebbw  Yale  exhibition  contained  a 
model  showing  the  method  adopted  at  those  works  for 
utilizing  the  gases  evolved  from  the  surface.  The  propri¬ 
etors  of  the  Low  Moor  and  Bowling  Iron-works  did  not 
forget  their  old  reputation  for  iron,  and  exhibited  some  re¬ 
markable  specimens.  As  a  general  illustration  of  British 
iron,  that  of  Mr.  Bird  may  be  cited.  Some  remarkable 
pieces  were  to  be  there  found  from  various  works  and  dis¬ 
tricts.  Among  them  was  probably  the  largest  bar  of  iron 
ever  rolled,  being  seven  inches  in  diameter  and  twenty  feet 
one  inch  long:  this  was  made  by  Messrs.  Bagnall,  of  West 
Bromwich,  and  weighed  nearly  one  ton  and  three  quarters. 
There  were  some  fine  examples  in  this  collection  of  large 
drawn  tubes,  and  others  illustrating  the  qualities  of  the 
various  irons.  Canada  and  Nova  Scotia  exhibited  theii 
iron  :  some  bar-iron  of  good  quality  from  the  former  was 
remarkable  for  being  manufactured  from  bog-iron  ore,  not 
usually  found  good  for  bar-iron. 

The  Austrian  series  of  iron  was  excellently  well  dis¬ 
played,  and  very  illustrative.  Many  parts  of  the  scries 
showed  the  ores  whence  the  metal  had  been  obtained,  with 
the  various  parts  of  the  processes,  including  the  slags.  In 
this  collection  was  a  most  remarkable  example  of  the  fine 
rolling  of  iron,  the  latter  itself  being  necessarily  of  excel¬ 
lent  quality.  The  “  iron  -paper,”  as  it  was  termed,  from 
Neudeck,  in  Bohemia,  was  superior  to  all  of  its  kind  in  the 
Exhibition.  It  may  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  cite  this 
Bohemian  “  iron-paper,”  in  illustration  of  some  of  the  useful 
effects  of  the  Great  Exhibition.  It  soon  attracted  the  at¬ 
tention  of  those  skilled  in  iron,  as  such  thin  rolled  iron  is 
important  for  button-making.  A  spirited  party,  connected 
with  the  iron  trade,  at  once  proposed,  in  a  proper  quarter, 
to  imitate  this  Bohemian  product.  This  was  attempted, 
and  though  the  result  was  not  quite  equal  to  the  original, 
before  the  Great  Exhibition  closed  thin  rolled  iron  of  a 
quality  not  heretofore  produced  in  this  country  was  to  be 
had  in  the  market. 

There  were  good  illustrations  also  of  tlr£  Belgian  iron,  as 
employed  for  various  purposes.  Though  Russia  did  not  put 
forth  her  strength  in  fine  iron,  there  were,  nevertheless,  some 
excellent  examples  of  it,  both  from  her  imperial  and  private 


44  MINING,  QUARRYING,  AND  METALLURGICAL 

works.  Some  specimens  of  sheet-iron  were  remarkable  for 
their  quality.  Sweden  was  deficient  in  that  iron  for  the 
quality  of  which  she  is  so  celebrated;  and  France,  though 
raising  a  large  quantity  of  iron,  was  scarcely  represented  in 
that  metal.  There  was  but  little  iron  in  the  Zollverein  de¬ 
partment.  The  Siegcn  iron,  produced  from  the  cai-bonate 
and  hydrated  oxide,  was  not,  however,  neglected;  and  the 
illustrations  of  iron  from  Nassau  were  effective,  as  were, 
indeed,  those  of  the  general  mineral  produce  of  that  state. 
Spain  sent  some  of  her  iron,  and  the  United  States  for¬ 
warded  some  good  illustrations  of  theirs. 

The  Exhibition  may  be  said  to  have  given  rise  to  the 
most  complete  view  of  the  iron  produce  of  this  country  which 
we  possess.  Mr.  Samuel  Blackwell,  himself  an  ironmaster, 
accompanied  the  collection  of  iron  ores,  previously  men¬ 
tioned,  by  a  statement  of  great  value.  He  estimates  the 
gross  annual  production  of  iron  in  Great  Britain  to  be  now 
upwards  of  2,500,000  tons.  “Of  this  quantity,  South 
Wales  furnishes  700,000  tons;  South  Staffordshire  (includ¬ 
ing  Worcestershire),  600,000  tons ;  and  Scotland,  600,000 
tons.  The  remainder  is  divided  among  the  various  smaller 
districts.”  The  iron  of  England  and  Wales  was  produced 
by  336  furnaces  in  blast  in  1850.  Though  a  considerable 
quantity  of  British  iron  is  exported,  a  very  large  proportion 
remains  to  be  variously  employed  in  our  own  industry. 

With  regard  to  copper,  the  chief  illustration  of  its  smelt¬ 
ing,  as  practised  in  this  country,  came,  as  might  be  ex¬ 
pected,  from  Swansea,  where,  as  has  been  already  stated, 
so  much  of  the  copper  ore,  not  only  of  the  British  Islands, 
but  of  other  parts  of  the  world,  is  converted  into  metal. 
The  series  sent  was  important.  The  Messrs.  Bankart  ex¬ 
hibited  illustrations  of  their  patent  process  of  reducing  cop¬ 
per  ores.  Though  referred  to  Class  II.,  mention  should  be 
here  made  of  Mr.  Longman!  s  process  of  reducing  copper 
ores.  In  it  the  sulphuret  of  iron  and  copper,  known  as 
copper  pyrites,  is  roasted  with  chloride  of  sodium  (common 
salt).  Sulphate  of  soda  is  produced,  the  copper  is  converted 
into  a  soluble  sulphate,  the  iron  left,  and  the  chlorine 
liberated.  The  copper  is  then  thrown  down  from  its  solu¬ 
tion.  There  was  also  copper  from  the  smelting  works, 
Bruce  mines,  Lake  Huron,  Canada;  and  the  Burra-Burra 


PROCESSES  AND  PRODUCTS. 


45 


copper  ores  were  accompanied  by  copper  smelted  at  their 
works,  recently  established  at  those  mines.  In  the  Zoll- 
verein  department  were  to  be  found  illustrations  of  the  pro¬ 
cesses  followed  in  extracting  the  copper  from  the  cupriferous 
state  of  Mansfeld,  and  those  also  showing  the  manner  of 
obtaining  the  silver  from  the  same  beds.  Rolled  copper 
was  exhibited  in  the  Russian  department;  a  feiv  pieces  of 
copper  were  sent  by  Austria,  and  others  from  the  Roraas 
Works,  Norway;  a  cake  of  copper,  with  the  ores  from  which 
it  was  obtained,  was  sent  from  the  mines  at  Montccatini, 
Tuscany;  copper,  accompanied  by  specimens  illustrating  the 
method  of  its  smelting,  was  exhibited  from  Rio  Tinto,  Spain, 
as  also  some  fine  copper  from  Seville.  Regarded  as  a  whole, 
the  copper  exhibition  was  defective. 

As  to  lead,  the  illustrations  were  chiefly  British.  There 
was  an  excellent  exhibition  of  Pattinson’s  important  pro¬ 
cess  for  desilverizing  that  metal — a  process  which  has  been 
of  such  service  to  lead-mining  generally,  rendering  many 
lead-mines  workable  with  profit  which  must  otherwise  have 
been  abandoned.  The  chief  ore  whence  lead  is  extracted  is 
that  known  as  galena,  or  the  sulphuret  of  lead,  furnishing 
from  seventy-five  to  eighty-three  parts  of  the  metal,  accord¬ 
ing  to  purity.  It  usually,  though  not  always,  contains 
silver  in  variable  proportions.  Upon  the  quantity  of  silver 
often  depends  the  profitable  raising  of  the  ore.  Previous 
to  the  invention  of  Mr.  Pattinson  (of  Newcastle-upon-Tyne), 
about  twenty  ounces  of  silver  in  the  ton  of  lead  were  required 
to  render  the  extraction  of  that  metal  worth  the  cost,  since 
then  as  little  as  three  and  four  ounces  in  the  ton  of  lead  will 
repay  extraction.  Now,  as  so  many  ores  contain  small 
quantities  only  of  silver,  the  importance  of  the  process  is 
evident.  In  a  scientific  point  of  view  it  is  one  of  much 
interest,  as  it  consists  in  so  conducting  the  work  that  por¬ 
tions  of  the  lead  can  crystallize,  by  which  the  silver  becomes 
excluded,  in  the  manner  in  which,  in  many  crystallizing 
processes,  foreign  substances  are  excluded  during  crystalliza¬ 
tion.  Thus,  by  degrees,  a  mass  of  mixed  lead  and  silver  is 
left,  extremely  rich  in  the  latter.  When  this  richness  in 
silver  arrives  at  the  point  desired,  that  metal  is  extracted, 
in  the  usual  manner,  by  cupellation.  The  lead-smelting  at 
the  Allenheads  mines,  and  at  the  Wanlock  Lead  Hills, 


46  MINING,  QUARRYING,  AND  METALLURGICAL 

Dumfriesshire,  both  excellently  displayed,  are  both  founded 
on  Pattinson’s  process.  While  touching  on  the  Wanlock 
Lead  Hills  exhibition,  we  should  not  pass  over  the  arrange¬ 
ments  by  which  the  fumes  from  the  furnace  are  prevented 
from  escape,  and  from  damage  to  the  surrounding  country, 
while  lead,  to  the  amount  of  thirty-three  per  cent,  from  the 
deposits,  or  “fume,”  is  obtained. 

The  Grasshill  mine,  Teesdale,  transmitted  illustrations 
of  its  lead-smelting,  accompanied  by  sheet-lead  and  lead- 
pipes.  The  Snailbeach  lead-mine,  Shropshire,  also  sent 
sheets  and  pipes.  From  Cornwall,  also,  and  from  Ireland, 
there  were  examples  of  lead  products.  There  was  also 
some  lead  from  Bleyberg  and  Vedrin,  Belgium;  from  Spain ; 
from  Tuscany,  and  the  Zollverein.  The  foreign  examples 
of  this  metal  were,  however,  inconsiderable,  viewed  as  a 
whole,  the  chief  part  of  the  lead  exhibition  being  British. 
As  illustrating  both  the  good  quality  of  the  metal,  as  well 
as  a  proper  method  of  drawing  it,  we  should  not  pass  over 
the  stall  of  M.  Poulet,  in  the  French  department,  containing 
lead  wires  and  tape,  or  spun  lead,  as  it  was  termed. 

With  regard  to  zinc,  the  chief  exhibition  was  that  of  the 
Vieille  Montague,  Belgium,  dispersed  in  the  Belgian,  French, 
and  English  departments.  This  establishment  is  the  most 
considerable  of  its  kind  in  the  world.  The  illustrations  of 
its  produce,  sent  by  the  Company  to  whom  it  belongs,  were 
alike  remarkable  for  their  abundance,  variety,  and  impor¬ 
tance.  The  establishment  now  employs  2646  persons,  and 
it  produced  11,500  tons  of  zinc  in  1850.  With  the  excep¬ 
tion  of  some  ingots  of  zinc  from  the  Eschweiler  foundries, 
Stolberg  (Zollverein  department),  and  others  from  the  Ster¬ 
ling  Hill  Mine,  New  Jersey,  there  would  appear  to  have 
been  no  other  illustrations  of  zinc  smelting  and  drawing. 

As  respects  tin,  a  very  important  process  for  separating 
wolfram  (tungstate  of  iron)  from  tin  ore,  was  sent  by  Mr. 
Oxland,  the  inventor,  from  the  Drake  Walls  Tin  Mine,  on 
the  Cornish  side  of  the  Tamar.  It  may  be  termed  a  mixed 
process  of  dressing  and  smelting.  Much  difficulty  arises  in 
the  dressing  of  tin  ore  when  wolfram  is  present,  as  too  often 
is  the  case  in  Cornwall  and  Devon,  the  specific  gravity  of 
the  two  being  so  nearly  alike,  that  of  the  tin  ore  (peroxide 
of  tin)  being  7,  and  of  wolfram,  7T.  After  crushing,  or 


PROCESSES  AND  PRODUCTS. 


47 


otherwise  pounding,  the  mixed  substances,  they  are  roasted, 
and  the  wolfram  still  remaining  unaffected,  after  again 
washing  they  are  roasted  with  carbonate  or  sulphate  of  soda, 
aud  the  process  so  conducted  that  the  tungstic  acid  leaves 
the  iron  and  combines  with  the  soda,  thus  decomposing  the 
wolfram,  and  tungstate  of  soda  being  formed,  the  tin  ore 
(commonly  termed  black  tin)  is  then  fitted  for  further  treat¬ 
ment  in  the  smelting-house.  The  ordinary  method  of 
smelting  tin  in  Cornwall  was  shown  by  a  model  (sent  by 
Mr.  Bolitho,  Penzance),  of  the  reverberatory  furnace  em¬ 
ployed,  accompanied  by  specimens  of  the  various  ores  as  pre¬ 
pared  for  smelting,  and  of  the  products  of  that  process.  The 
tin  of  Cornwall  and  Devon  has  long  supplied  the  chief  por¬ 
tion  of  that  consumed  in  Europe  and  on  the  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean.  In  1850,  10,052  tons  of  the  ore  were 
raised.  Taking  the  ore  at  50 1.  per  ton,  it  would  have  a  value 
of  500,000/.  in  that  state  in  1850.  Tin  is  now  imported 
from  other  lands.  In  1850,  1798  tons  of  tin,  chiefly  from 
Banca,  were  imported;  aud  2211  tons  were  exported; 
showing  that  only  413  tons  of  British  tin  found  its  way 
elsewhere,  the  chief  part  of  our  tin  produce  being  reserved 
for  our  own  industry,  for  which  it  is  in  many  ways  so  im¬ 
portant.  Tin  was  shown  from  the  Malay  peninsula;  from 
Scblaggenwald,  Bohemia,  and  from  the  Avian  mountains, 
Spain. 

llespectiug  silver,  Pattinson’s  important  process  has  been 
already  mentioned.  Attached  to  its  illustrations  was  a  large 
mass  of  silver,  weighing  3000  ounces,  well  showing  the 
“spitting//  as  it  has  been  termed,  which  takes  place  while 
the  mass  was  cooling.  In  the  Allenheads  series  there  was 
a  cake  of  silver,  prepared  by  the  same  method,  weighing 
8000  ounces.  The  Kongsberg  collection  was  completed  by 
proper  illustration  of  the  silver  itself.  There  was  also 
smelted  silver  from  Prince’s  Location,  Lake  Superior,  Ca¬ 
nada;  from  the  Almeria  mines,  Spain ;  and  from  Eschweiler 
mines,  Stolberg  (Zollverein). 

As  to  gold,  there  were  examples  of  it  from  Canada,  India, 
the  United  States,  and  West  Africa.  There  was  also  a  re¬ 
markable  specimen  of  gold  from  Chili. 

The  most  important  exhibition  connected  with  gold  was 
that  from  Beichcnstein,  in  Silesia.  It  afforded  an  excellent 


48  MINING,  QUARRYING,  AND  METALLURGICAL 

example  of  an  application  of  science  by  which  ores  pre¬ 
viously  profitless  became  valuable;  indeed,  the  mines  had 
been  abandoned  for  five  centuries  on  account  of  their  po¬ 
verty,  though  known  to  be  auriferous.  It  is  not  the  pre¬ 
cious  character  of  a  metal  in  a  mine  that  renders  it  impor¬ 
tant,  but  its  relative  amount,  making  the  difference  between 
profit  and  loss  in  obtaining  it.  The  Reichenstein  case  is 
one  where  the  progress  of  science  rendered  a  working  pro¬ 
fitable  not  previously  so.  The  process  adopted  was  that  of 
Professor  Plattner,  of  Freiberg.  The  ores  of  the  Iteichen- 
stein  mines  are  arsenical  pyrites,  containing  about  200 
grains  of  gold  in  the  ton.  These  are  roasted  in  a  reverbera¬ 
tory  furnace,  surmounted  by  a  large  condensing  chamber, 
on  which  the  arsenic  is  deposited,  as  it  rises  in  fumes.  Ox¬ 
ide  of  ii’on,  a  certain  quantity  of  arsenic,  and  the  gold  in 
the  ore,  remain  beneath.  These  are  placed  in  a  vessel,  so 
that  a  current  of  chlorine  gas  is  transmitted  through  them. 
The  gold  and  iron  are  attacked,  are  separated  from  the  resi¬ 
due  by  solution  in  water,  and  the  gold  is  precipitated  by 
sulphuretted  hydrogen.  The  importance  of  the  process  is 
evident;  and  it  is  but  justice  to  Dr.  Percy  to  state,  that  at 
the  meeting  of  the  British  Association  at  Swansea  in  1848, 
he  advocated  the  employment  of  chlorine  for  a  similar 
purpose. 

With  respect  to  the  metals  platinum,  palladium,  iri¬ 
dium,  and  rhodium,  they  were  shown  in  their  different 
metallurgic  states  by  Messrs.  Johnson  and  Matthey;  and 
the  method  -of  reducing  antimony  was  well  illustrated  by 
Mr.  Hallett. 

We  have  entered  into  some  detail  on  the  subject  of  the 
metals,  in  their  various  states,  from  the  ore  in  the  mine  to 
the  metals  themselves,  not  only  from  the  importance  of  the 
subject,  but  also  in  order  to  show  the  character  of  the  Ex¬ 
hibition  as  regards  this  portion  of  it.  It  will  have  been 
observed,  that  no  mention  has  been  made  of  some  important 
metalliferous  countries,  and  that,  even  as  regards  others, 
metallic  products  for  which  they  have  been  long  known 
have  not  been  noticed  as  coming  from  them.  Those  old 
cradles  of  European  mining,  Saxony  and  the  Hartz,  did  not 
transmit  any  of  their  products,  nor  any  illustrations  of  their 
mining  operations ;  neither  were  the  mining  regions  of  Mex- 


PROCESSES  AND  PRODUCTS. 


49 


ico  and  the  South  American  States  represented,  except  in¬ 
deed  by  a  remarkable  specimen  of  silver,  and  another  of 
gold,  from  Chili.  As  a  general  fact,  and  one  well  known 
to  all  who  had  to  investigate  the  subject,  though  here  and 
there  important  exhibitions  were  to  be  found,  mining  gene¬ 
rally,  even  that  of  our  own  country,  required  far  more  illus¬ 
tration  than  it  received.  Let  us  not,  however,  be  surprised 
at  this;  the  marvel  was,  fairly  regarding  the  conditions  un¬ 
der  which  the  collections  were  made,  that  so  much  had  been 
accomplished,  not  so  little.  In  no  department  of  the  Ex¬ 
hibition  will  have  been  found  more  perfect  disinterestedness 
on  the  part  of  the  exhibitors.  The  honest  miner,  not  for¬ 
warding  specimens  of  ores  for  the  purpose  of  exciting  atten¬ 
tion  to  shares  in  his  mines,  could  gain  nothing  by  sending 
illustrations  of  his  ores  and  methods  of  preparing  them,  and 
yet  the  cost  of  transmitting  such  heavy  articles  was  con¬ 
siderable.  The  collector  and  describer  of  the  important  series 
of  British  iron  ores  will  not  dispose  of  a  ton  more  of  his  iron 
for  all  the  trouble  and  expense  which  that  collection  has 
occasioned  him.  The  same  with  ludicrous  others.  All 
these  were  thorough  good-will  offerings  to  a  cause  considered 
good,  and,  as  such,  are  deserving  of  all  public  acknow¬ 
ledgment. 

The  class  under  consideration  also  included  steels  and  the 
alloys  generally  of  the  metals  considered  as  raw  materials. 
The  first  was  an  especial  difficult  subject  to  treat  without 
reference  to  other  classes  where  that  metallic  substance  was 
employed,  seeing  that  the  various  kinds  of  steel  had  to  be 
made  for  the  work  for  which  they  were  intended.  As,  for 
example,  in  the  Sheffield  department,  raw  steel  was  shown, 
■with  one  exception,  in  connexion  with  the  various  manufac¬ 
tures  it  contained.  Fitting  steel  was  to  be  found  with  the 
files,  the  springs,  or  the  cutlery,  as  the  case  required.  As 
steel  is  usually  made,  in  this  country,  from  Swedish  and 
Russian  iron,  the  steel  of  Mr.  Solly,  of  Leabrook,  made 
with  British  iron’,  and  exhibited,  should  be  mentioned. 

As  a  steel  exhibition  alone  the  most  illustrative  collection 
was  that  sent  by  Messrs.  Naylor,  Vickers,  and  Co.  It  was 
accompanied  by  a  large  and  beautiful  model  of  the  furnaces, 
rolling-mills,  and  forge,  and  was,  altogether,  a  most  effective 
display  of  British  steel.  In  the  Zollvercin  department  there 


50  MINING,  QUARRYING,  AND  METALLURGICAL 

was  a  remarkable  exhibition  of  steel  by  M.  Krupp,  of  Essen, 
Dusseldorf;  but  here  again  it  was  difficult  to  separate  a 
consideration  of  the  raw  material  from  the  rolling-mills  and 
other  objects  to  which  it  was  applicable.  A  broken  cylinder 
of  this  steel,  measuring  fifteen  inches  in  diameter,  was  par¬ 
ticularly  remarkable.  There  were  illustrations  of  steels 
from  various  lands,  and  they,  with  the  irons,  may  be^  re¬ 
garded  as  the  most  effective  part  of  the  metallic  collections 
in  the  Exhibition. 

With  regard  to  brass,  there  was  little  that  came  within 
Class  I.,  but  the  most  important  considered  in  it  was  the 
series  exhibited  by  the  MM.  Estivant,  of  (riven,  France. 
It  was  an  excellent  collection,  composed  of  articles  of  ordi¬ 
nary  manufacture  at  their  establishment,  often  of  great  size 
and  difficulty  of  execution.  Though  employing  the  usual 
mixtures  of  copper  and  zinc,  it  is  stated  that  especial  mea¬ 
sures  are  adopted  by  which  the  fine  products  shown  are  con¬ 
stantly  obtained.  There  were  rolled  bars  and  tables  of  con¬ 
siderable  dimensions,  as  well  as  excellent  laminated  brass 
of  extreme  thinness.? 

In  the  English  series  some  alloys  of  iron  with  different 
metals  were  shown  by  Mr.  Stirling.  Articles  made  with 
them  were  also  exhibited,  and  these  alloys  were  stated  to 
have  some  remarkable  properties.  There  were  varieties  of 
other  alloys  in  the  Exhibition,  many  of  considerable  import¬ 
ance;  but  these  were  usually  so  combined  in  manufactures 
as  not  to  come  under  Class  I.  There  was,  however,  a  case 
containing  176  specimens  of  the  useful  metals  and  their 
alloys,  shown  by  Mr.  Jordan,  of  Manchester,  which  should 
not  be  passed  over  without  adverting  to  its  very  useful 
character. 

Plumbago,  or  black-lead,  as  it  is  so  erroneously  termed, 
should,  perhaps,  have  been  noticed  after  the  coals,  seeing 
that  it  is  a  substance  chiefly  composed  of  carbon  with  some 
admixtures  of  other  substances,  not  unfrequently  iron.  The 
importance  of  plumbago  for  the  arts  and  for  crucibles  is 
well  known.  After  the  Borrowdale  mines,  Cumberland, 
were  somewhat  exhausted,  it  became  important,  for  that 
variety  of  plumbago  employed  in  arts,  to  obtain  some  sub¬ 
stitute;  and  varieties  of  compounds  were  invented,  but  no¬ 
thing  succeeded  so  well  as  the  compressing  process  patented 


PROCESSES  AND  PRODUCTS. 


51 


by  Mr.  Brockedon,  of  which  illustrations  were  in  the  Exhi¬ 
bition.  By  this  process  much  of  the  Borrowdale  plumbago 
dust  has  been  utilized  with  advantage.  It,  or  any  other 
good  plumbago,  is  ground  into  fine  powder,  placed  in  packets, 
and  then  receives  a  pressure  equal  to  about  5000  tons.  To 
prevent  the  injurious  effect  of  disseminated  air  in  the  packets 
of  fine  powder,  it  is  extracted  by  means  of  an  air-pump,  and 
thus  the  particles  themselves  can  be  brought  into  close 
juxtaposition  and  forced  to  cohere.  Of  the  application  of 
plumbago  to  crucibles  there  were  several  examples,  some 
well  known  for  their  quality. 

Of  building  stones  it  could  not  be  expected  that  there 
would  be  many  not  British.  There  were,  however,  a  few 
specimens  in  other  divisions.  The  most  important  series 
was  that  of  Messrs.  Freeman,  of  Westminster,  where  the 
various  stones  employed  in  London  for  architecture  and 
engineering  found  their  places.  Dispersed  illustrations  of 
similar  stones  were  also  to  be  seen  in  other  departments. 

With  respect  to  marbles,  serpentines,  porphyries,  and 
granites,  it  is  needful  to  refer  to  other  classes  for  a  proper 
appreciation  of  those, exhibited,  many  being  only  to  be  found 
in  a  worked  state.  Taken  as  a  whole,  they  were  fairly  re¬ 
presented.  The  British  was  an  effective  exhibition,  more 
especially  when  regarded  with  reference  to  the  mode  of  work 
employed.  Marbles  were  sent  from  France,  Belgium,  Spain, 
Portugal,  Italy,  Greece,  the  German  States,  India,  and  even 
from  South  Africa.  In  foreign  porphyries  and  granites 
there  was  no  great  display.  The  porphyry  and  granite  of 
Sweden  were,  however,  not  forgotten ;  neither  were  the 
granites  of  the  Vosges,  France,  and  certain  granites  and 
porphyries  of  Portugal,  unrepresented. 

liespecting  slates,  for  the  production  of  which  this  coun¬ 
try  is  so  remarkable,  there  were  good  illustrations,  especially 
when  regarded  with  reference  to  their  manufactured  state. 
There  were  also  examples  of  slates  from  Canada.  Foreign 
slates  were  little  exhibited;  the  well-known  Angers  slates, 
France,  were  only  represented  by  a  few  of  the  smaller  size. 
There  were,  also,  examples  of  slates  from  the  United  States, 
Sardinia,  and  Nassau. 

Mr.  Meinig,  of  Leadenhall  Street,  sent  a  splendid  display 
of  polishing,  sharpening,  and  grind-stones,  from  all  parts  of 


52  MINING,  QUARRYING,  AND  METALLURGICAL 

the  world — a  most  remarkable  exhibition  of  its  kind.  Simi¬ 
lar  mineral  products  were  to  be  found  dispersed  through 
various  departments.  Our  own  grind-stones  were  not  for¬ 
gotten;  and  the  well-known  millstones  of  France  and  Bel¬ 
gium  were  well  represented. 

Of  porcelain  or  china  clay,  the  chief  exhibition  was  that 
from  Cornwall  and  Devon,  which,  with  the  addition  of 
Cornish  felspar,  used  in  porcelain,  was  effective.  There 
were  some  examples  of  porcelain  clay  from  France ;  and  in 
the  Chinese  collection,  among  the  various  materials  em¬ 
ployed  in  the  manufacture  of  porcelain,  were  some  illustra¬ 
tive  specimens  of  similar  clays.  Many  examples  ot  pipe 
and  other  clays  were  to  be  found,  as  well  as  excellent  illus¬ 
trations  of  British  fire-clays  and  bricks. 

The  important  subject  of  mineral  manures  was  not  for¬ 
gotten.  The  various  substances,  bones,  teeth,  coprolites, 
and  concretions  of  phosphate  of  lime,  from  the  tertiary  series 
of  Felixstow,  near  Ipswich,  were  shown,  as  were  also  the 
various  bodies  containing  phosphate  of  lime  from  the  British 
cretaceous  series,  of  some  localities.  There  was  likewise  an 
illustrative  collection,  pointing  to  the  importance  of  mineral 
manures,  in  the  French  department. 

Of  the  mode  of  occurrence  of  gems  there  were  some  valu¬ 
able  illustrations,  such  as  of  the  emeralds  of  New  Granada 
and  the  turquoises  of  Arabia.  If  it  may  be  permitted  to 
include  the  precious  stones  generally  (and  a  very  fine  col¬ 
lection  of  cut  gems  was  shown  in  the  Class  I.,  British  Depart¬ 
ment),  looking  at  the  exhibition  of  them  generally,  it  may 
be  probably  regarded  as  the  most  remarkable  ever  assembled 
in  a  single  building. 

You  will  have  gathered  from  the  foregoing  sketch,  that, 
as  regards  mineral  raw  materials,  mining  and  metallurgical 
processes,  the  Exhibition  was  of  a  very  unequal  character. 
While  there  may  have  been  many  deficiencies,  there  were, 
at  the  same  time,  many  important  illustrations  of  this  class. 
Regarding  the  subject  as  a  whole,  we  have  to  repeat  what 
has  already  been  said  of  a  particular  branch  of  it,  that  the 
marvel  is  how,  under  all  the  conditions  of  collection,  so 
much  that  was  effective  could  have  been  accomplished.  It 
is  most  desirable  that  the  real  character  of  this  portion  of 
the  Exhibition,  as,  indeed,  of  all  others,  should  be  thoroughly 


PROCESSES  AND  PRODUCTS. 


53 


understood,  alike  for  the  benefit  of  present  knowledge  as  for 
future  progress.  Depreciation  or  exaggeration,  the  one  by 
reaction  usually  producing  the  other,  have  to  be  alike 
avoided.  By  analyzing  the  truth,  we  obtain  results  such  as 
may  really  produce  advance,  and  advance  is  your  object. 
The  Great  Exhibition,  brilliant  as  its  course  has  been,  is 
not  the  end  ;  it  is  the  means  to  the  end.  You  do  not  intend 
to  stand  still,  and  look  back  upon  its  past  splendour  as  a 
thing  only  of  history ;  you  propose  to  consider  how  far  you 
can  render  it  available  for  future  public  good.  There  is  a 
movement,  which  cannot  be  mistaken,  towards  more  general 
instruction  connected  with  the  industry  of  our  country — a 
movement  arising  out  of  the  late  Exhibition.  That  this 
movement  should  be  effective  the  utmost  care  will  be  needed ; 
and  as  far  as  the  Great  Exhibition  can  instruct  us,  and  assist 
the  good  cause,  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  its  bril¬ 
liant  and  deserved  success  should  not  so  far  dazzle  us  that 
we  pass  unheeded  many  considerations  of  the  most  essential 
kind. 

As  regards  the  class  with  which  we  are  now  occupied,  it 
is  probable  that  which  will  be  eventually  found  the  least 
complete.  It  could  scarcely  be  otherwise.  I  may  be  here 
reminded  that  this  is  of  the  less  importance,  seeing  that  the 
State  has  already  provided  instruction  as  regards  it,  and, 
indeed,  somewhat  more.  No  doubt,  the  commencement  of 
the  School  of  Mines,  lately  opened  at  the  Museum  of  Practi¬ 
cal  Geology,  has  been  very  successful,  and  that  there  is 
excellent  promise  for  the  future;  but  this  present  success 
and  this  promise  for  the  future  seem  only  to  point  out  the 
more  strongly  that  industrial  instruction  should  be  extended, 
and  that,  if  carefully  considered  with  reference  to  the  wants 
and  habits  of  our  country,  schools  ‘in  aid  of  the  various 
branches  of  industry,  now  receiving  no  educational  assist¬ 
ance  whatever,  may  bo  equally  successful.  Best  assured, 
there  is  no  want  of  power  in  our  land  to  jwoduce  the  result 
desired ;  that  power  has  but  to  be  aroused,  and  to  be  skil¬ 
fully  adjusted,  to  become  effective. 

Viewed  as  suggestive,  the  deficiencies  were  valuable  as 
pointing  out  the  need  of  instruction  generally  respecting  the 
true  character  of  mineral  raw  materials,  the  means  of  extract¬ 
ing  them,  and  the  methods  of  rendering  them  available  to 


54  MINING,  QUARRYING,  AND  METALLURGICAL 

man.  It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  the  mass  of  the  thou¬ 
sands  daily  visiting  the  Exhibition  should  be  capable  of 
forming  a  correct  judgment  on  the  subject,  but  it  became 
an  object  of  importance  to  endeavour  to  ascertain  the  pro¬ 
portion  of  those  termed — from  the  kind  of  instruction  they 
usually  receive — the  educated  classes,  who  really  appre¬ 
ciated  such  deficiencies.  Beyond  those  whose  business  of 
life  it  was  to  take  part  in  the  commerce  and  industry  con¬ 
nected  with  the  subject,  and  who  readily  understood  them, 
it  was  but  too  clear  that  little  knowledge  of  the  kind  was 
diffused.  This  arose  from  no  want  of  power  to  grasp  the 
subject,  but  simply  that,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  this 
kind  of  knowledge  had  not  been  brought  under  considera¬ 
tion.  It  is  one,  nevertheless,  of  no  slight  value  to  many 
occupying  the  highest  stations,  who,  if  their  mineral  wealth 
were  abstracted,  would  find  their  resources  most  materially 
deteriorated.  It  is  no  less  important  to  numbers  of  persons 
daily  speculating  in  mines,  ignorant  of  all  connected  with 
them,  except  the  traffic  in  shares.  It  is  not  a  true  inference, 
as  has  been  sometimes  drawn,  that  such  want  of  knowledge 
is  simply  a  private  matter.  It  is  a  national  loss,  the  amount 
of  capital  thoroughly  wasted,  and  which,  if  rightly  employed, 
would  have  been  beneficial  to  the  public,  is  enormous. 

As  has  been  seen,  there  were  numerous  and  important 
illustrations  of  the  subjects  included  in  our  class;  many 
more  especially  valuable,  as  showing  the  applications  of 
science  to  the  means  of  rendering  mineral  substances  useful. 
Some  of  these  may  not,  indeed,  have  had  claims  to  imme¬ 
diate  novelty ;  but  their  juxtaposition  was,  nevertheless, 
highly  suggestive  of  the  direction  in  which  the  mind  might  be 
advantageously  employed  for  further  progress — an  important 
point  in  exhibitions  of  this  kind.  Science  is  essential  to 
progress  in  our  department,  and  it  is  most  cheering  to  find 
its  union  with  practice  daily  becoming  more  thoroughly 
appreciated  in  this  country,  where  hitherto  we  have  not 
possessed  the  educational  advantages,  as  regards  instruction 
connected  with  industry,  possessed  by  many  other  nations. 
We  have  had  the  advantage  of  seeing,  during  the  late  Exhi- 
tion,  how  eagerly  our  foreign  brethren  in  industry  seized 
upon  all  showing  the  useful  applications  of  science;  how 
anxious  they  were  to  visit  the  localities  whence  illustrations 


PROCESSES  AND  PRODUCTS. 


55 


of  them  were  derived.  Let  us  not  he  laggards  in  the  same 
field;  let  us  also  utilize  the  Exhibition  for  progress,  and 
not  let  its  suggestions  pass  unheeded.  It  has  been  seen, 
that  while  we  had  much  to  teach,  and  many  were  the  points 
connected  with  our  mineral  wealth  which  engaged  the  anxious 
attention  of  our  visiters  from  other  lands,  we  had  also  much 
to  learn.  Let  us  strive  to  learn  as  well  as  teach,  and  thus 
improve,  for  the  advantage  of  all,  the  good  fellowship  esta¬ 
blished,  by  the  influence  of  the  Great  Exhibition,  among  so 
many  able  men  of  various  lands ;  and  so  that,  in  times  to 
come,  that  Exhibition  may  be  truthfully  regarded  as  having 
been  a  real  benefit  to  man. 


December  2,  1851. 


' 


. 


LECTURE  III. 


ON  THE  RAW  MATERIALS  FROM  THE  ANIMAL 

KINGDOM. 


RICHARD  OWEN,  F.R.S. 


(57) 


RICHARD  OWEN,  F.R.S. 


ON  THE 


RAW  MATERIALS  FROM  THE  ANIMAL 
KINGDOM. 


In  coming  before  you  this  evening  with  some  observations 
on  the  “  Animal  Substances  used  in  Manufactures,  dis¬ 
played  in  the  Great  Exhibition  of  the  Works  of  Industry 
of  all  Nations,”  I  am  actuated  rather  by  a  deference  to  the 
august  source  of  the  suggestion  that  originated  the  present 
series  of  lectures,  and  by  the  desire  to  comply  with  the  re¬ 
quest  with  which  the  Council  of  this  Society  have  honoured 
me,  than  by  any  confidence  in  the  worth  of  what  I  may  have 
to  say.  My  habitual  studies  have,  truly,  left  me  little 
leisure  for  their  extension  beyond  the  structure,  develope- 
ment,  and  purely  scientific  relations  of  those  parts  of  animal 
bodies  which  mankind  have  converted  to  their  outward  use; 
and  as  for  their  applications  to  the  arts  and  manufactures, 
and  the  various  processes  to  which  they  are  thereto  sub¬ 
jected,  I  must  confess  myself  herein  a  poor  scholar  merely, 
and  a  very  recent  one,  owing  such  elementary  information 
as  I  may  possess  to  opportunities  afforded  during  the  pre¬ 
sent  year  by  the  Great  and  happily -conceived  Exhibition; 
from  which  every  one,  no  matter  what  his  social  or  intel¬ 
lectual  grade,  must  have  derived,  if  he  availed  himself  of  it 
at  all,  lasting  instruction  and  benefit.  No  one  could  feel 
more  conscious  than  myself  of  my  want  of  all  that  special 

(59) 


60 


ON  THE  RAW  MATERIALS 


knowledge  and  experience  which  might  have  been  looked 
for  in  a  J uror  for  the  Class  (TV.)  of  “  Vegetable  and  Animal 
Substances  used  in  Manufactures,  as  Implements,  or  for 
Ornaments ;”  and  I  was  aware  that  the  only  grounds  on 
which  my  name  could  have  suggested  itself  to  the  Council 
of  the  Great  Exhibition,  as  that  of  one  likely  to  serve  them 
in  that  capacity,  were  my  known  devotion  to  the  science  of 
the  organization  of  animals.*  It  was,  however,  urged,  that 
such  scientific  knowledge  would  help  in  guiding  to  right 
conclusions  on  the  nature  and  relative  perfections  of  the  raw 
materials  assigned  to  the  inspection  of  Jury  IV.;  and  I 
need  not  say,  that  whatever  aid  it  was  thought  I  might  con¬ 
tribute  towards  the  successful  carrying  out  a  design,  enlist¬ 
ing  the  warmest  sympathies  of  every  Englishman,  was 
most  heartily  rendered,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  at  the  call 
of  the  Royal  Commission.  In  the  present  concluding  scene 
of  that  Act  of  the  Great  Industrial  Drama  in  which  I  have 
been  a  humble  performer,  I  must  entreat  your  kind  indul¬ 
gence  whilst  I  offer  you,  what  alone  I  feel  competent  to  do, 
some  results,  namely,  of  investigations  into  the  nature, 
organization,  and  developement  of  the  “  Animal  Substances 
chiefly  used  in  Manufactures,  as  Implements  or  for  Orna¬ 
ments,”  being  fully  conscious  that  most  of  the  members  of 
this  highly  useful  and  distinguished  Association  know  much 
better  than  I  can  pretend  to  do  the  art-and-manufacture 
relations  of  the  subjects  of  the  present  discourse. 

.  For  the  “raw  materials”  from  the  vegetable  and  animal 
kingdoms,  adapted  for  manufactures,  mankind  owes  more  to 
the  powers  and  operations  of  jSlature  than  to  the  inventions 
and  appliances  of  Art;  and  in  the  series  of  the  various 
organic  products  of  almost  every  climate  which  were  exposed 
to  view  in  the  Exhibition  of  the  Works  of  Industry  of  all 
Nations,  the  relati-ve  excellence  of  the  objects  to  be  com¬ 
pared  might  be  deemed  to  be  due  rather  to  peculiarities  of 
soil  and  sky  than  to  the  individual  merits  of  the  exhibitors. 
Almost  every  vegetable  or  animal  substance  may,  however, 
be  modified,  and,  in  relation  to  its  utility  to  man,  improved, 
by  a  change  of  the  circumstances  under  which  it  is  naturally 

*  “Official,  Descriptive,  and  Illustrated  Catalogue”  (List  of 
Jurors),  vol.  1.  p.  45. 


FROM  THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM. 


61 


developed,  such  change  or  improvement  being  suggested  by 
a  patient  study  of  the  respective  influence  of  those  cir¬ 
cumstances  upon  the  useful  properties  of  the  substance. 
A  further  improvement  may  be  effected  by  carefully  de¬ 
fending  the  raw  material  during  the  progress  of  its  devclope- 
ment  from  all  external  influences  calculated  to  deteriorate 
or  injuriously  affect  it.  The  value  of  every  organic  product 
in  commerce  is  much  influenced  by  the  mode  of  its  collection, 
or  removal  from  the  animal  or  plant  when  developed,  and 
by  the  processes  for  separating  the  useless  or  less  valuable 
parts,  or  heterogeneous  matters,  from  the  marketable  con¬ 
stituent  ;  and,  in  the  sense  in  which  the  term  “  raw  ma¬ 
terial”  was  extended  in  its  application  to  that  section  of  the 
Exhibition  assigned  to  Jury  IV.,  great  scope  for  both  chemi¬ 
cal  and  mechanical  skill  was  afforded  in  the  extraction  and 
preparation  of  several  of  the  vegetable  and  animal  sub¬ 
stances  applied  “  in  Manufactures,  as  Implements,  or  for 
Ornaments.” 

In  the  examination  and  comparison  of  the  very  numer¬ 
ous  and  diversified  substances  confided  to  their  judgment, 
the  Jury  IV.,  over  which  I  had  the  honour  to  preside,  were 
guided  and  influenced  by  the  consideration  of  the  invention, 
ingenuity,  skill,  and  industry  manifested  in  the  amelioration 
and  perfection  of  these  several  substances,  and  by  the  de¬ 
grees  in  which  unfavourable  conditions  of  soil  and  climate 
had  been  thereby  overcome;  and  in  deciding  on  individual 
merits,  they  were  careful  to  take  into  account  the  natural 
facilities  which  favoured,  and  the  natural  difficulties  which 
opposed,  the  realization  of  the  desired  qualities  in  the  raw 
produce  transmitted  for  exhibition.  After  a  preliminary 
general  survey  of  their  field  of  operations  had  shown  its  vast 
extent  and  the  great  practical  importance  of  the  objects  to 
be  compared,  the  Jury,  having  regard  also  to  the  earnest 
desire  expressed  for  expedition  in  their  decisions,  resolved 
themselves  into  two  Committees,  one  for  the  Vegetable,  the 
other  for  the  Animal  Kingdom  ;  reviewing  and  testing  from 
time  to  time  in  general  meetings  the  evidence  of  the  special 
examinations  confided  to  those  Committees. 

The  subjects  selected  for  this  evening’s  lecture,  and  on 
which  I  shall  now  proceed  to  speak,  are  the  most  valuable 
and  important  of  those  “raw  materials”  which  fell  under 
6 


62 


ON  THE  RAW  MATERIALS 


the  survey  of  the  Committee  for  the  “  Animal  Kingdom.” 
And,  first,  of  the  animal  substances  used  for  textile  products 
and  clothing. 

Wool. 

The  raw  material  of  most  importance  and  in  most  general 
use  for  the  above  purposes  is  wool.  This  is  a  peculiar  mo¬ 
dification  of  hair,  characterized  by  fine  transverse  or  oblique 
lines,  from  2000  to  4000  in  the  extent  of  an  inch,  indica¬ 
tive  of  a  minutely  imbricated  scaly  surface,  when  viewed 
under  the  microscope,  on  which,  and  on  its  curved  or  twisted 
form,  depends  its  remarkable  felting  property,  and  its  con¬ 
sequent  value  in  manufactures. 

Most  quadrupeds  possess  the  woolly  variety  of  hair  as  an 
under-clothing,  but  in  a  small  proportion,  and  hidden  by 
the  smooth,  exterior,  coarser,  and  straighter  kind  of  hair. 
In  the  wild  sheep  (e.  g.  the  argali  of  Central  Asia,  Ovis 
ammon,  and  the  mouflon  or  musmon  of  Sardinia  and  Cor¬ 
sica,  Ovis  musimon ),  the  woolly  variety  of  hair  is  deve¬ 
loped  in  excess;  and  in  the  domesticated  races  the  fleece  has 
been  modified  and  improved,  in  various  degrees,  by  crossing 
the  breeds,  by  choice  of  climate  and  pasture,  and  by  care¬ 
ful  attention  and  defence  during  its  growth,  until  not  only 
has  the  original  coarse  character  of  the  product  disappeared, 
but  qualities  of  wool  of  different  kinds  and  of  different  de¬ 
grees  of  superiority  have  been  obtained,  generally  divisible 
into  two  classes,  one  better  adapted  for  “carding,”  the 
other  for  “combing,”  and  both  available  for  a  great  variety 
of  useful  and  elegant  textile  fabrics. 

In  judging  of  these  qualities  in  the  wools  exhibited,  the 
Jury  tested  the  fineness  and  elasticity  of  the  fibre,  the  de¬ 
grees  of  imbrication  of  the  scaled  surface  of  the  fibre  as 
shown  by  the  microscope,  the  quantity  of  fibre  developed 
in  a  given  space  of  the  fleece,  the  comparative  freedom  of 
the  fleece  from  extraneous  matters,  and  the  skill  and  care 
employed  in  preparatory  processes ;  such,  for  example,  as 
that  termed  “  scouring”  the  fleece,  upon  which  depends  its 
liability  or  otherwise  to  mat  at  the  bottom  of  the  staple. 

Probably  a  more  extensive,  varied,  and  instructive  collec¬ 
tion  of  wools  was  never  brought  together  under  one  roof  for 


OF  THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM. 


63 


inspection  and  comparison  than  that  which  was  contributed 
to  the  Great  Exhibition;  and  it  exemplified,  in  a  remark¬ 
able  degree,  the  extent  to  which  pastoral  life — commenced, 
according  to  oldest  records,  in  Central  Asia,  the  habitat  of 
the  argali — has  since  been  spread  over  the  globe.  From 
the  provinces  of  Chinese  Tartary,  from  Thibet,  and  India, 
in  the  East,  to  the  lately  redeemed  tracts  of  the  United 
States  in  the  far  West;  from  Iceland  and  Scandinavia,  in  the 
North,  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  Australia,  and  Tasmania, 
in  the  South,  specimens  of  the  staple  of  the  flocks  there, 
and  in  almost  every  intermediate  latitude  and  longitude, 
preserved  and  multiplied  under  the  fostering  and  modifying 
influence  of  civilized  man,  had  been  transmitted  for  inspec¬ 
tion  and  comparison. 

If  the  test  of  the  value  of  a  domestic  animal  be  the 
numbers  on  the  preservation  of  which  human  care  is  be¬ 
stowed,  and  on  the  extent  of  the  habitable  globe  over  which 
mankind  has  diffused  the  species,  then  the  sheep  takes  the 
first  rank.  With  regard  to  an  animal  so  essentially  related 
to  the  welfare  of  mankind,  every  fact  in  its  natural  history 
is  of  special  interest,  and  we  are  particularly  concerned  in 
the  endeavour  to  trace  the  origin  of  the  domesticated  variety 
to  which  we  owe  so  much. 

The  recent  progress  of  palaeontology,  or  the  science  of 
fossil  organic  remains — remarkable  for  its  unprecedented 
rapidity — adds  a  new  element  to  the  elucidation  of  this 
question,  which  was  so  ably  discussed  by  Buffon,  and  the 
naturalists  of  the  last  century.  At  present,  however,  the 
evidence  which  palaeontology  yields  is  of  the  negative  kind. 
No  unequivocal  fossil  remains  of  the  sheep  have  yet  been 
•  found  in  the  bone-caves,  the  drift,  or  the  more  tranquil 
stratified  newer  pleiocenc  deposits,  so  associated  with  the 
fossil  bones  of  oxen,  wild  boax-',  wolves,  foxes,  otters,  bea¬ 
vers,  &c.,  as  to  indicate  the  coevality  of  the  sheep  with 
those  species,  or  in  such  an  altered  state  as  to  indicate  them 
to  have  been  of  equal  antiquity.  I  have  had  my  attention 
particularly  directed  to  this  point  in  collecting  evidence  for 
a  “  History  of  our  British  Fossil  Mammalia. ”  Wherever 
the  truly  characteristic  parts,  viz.  the  bony  cores  of  the 
hoims,  have  been  found  associated  with  jaws,  teeth,  and 
other  parts  of  the  skeleton  of  a  ruminant,  corresponding  in 


64 


ON  THE  RAW  MATERIALS 


size  and  other  characters  with  those  of  the  goat  and  sheep 
in  the  formations  of  the  newer  pleiocene  period,  such  sup¬ 
ports  of  the  horns  have  proved  to  be  those  of  the  goat.* 
No  fossil  horn-core  of  a  sheep  has  yet  been  anywhere  dis¬ 
covered  :  and  so  far  as  this  negative  evidence  goes,  we  may 
infer  that  the  sheep  is  not  geologically  more  ancient  than 
man ;  that  it  is  not  a  native  of  Europe ;  but,  has  been  in¬ 
troduced  by  the  tribes  who  carried  hither  the  germs  of  civi¬ 
lization  in  their  migrations  westward  from  Asia. 

Natural  history,  as  yet,  possesses  no  facts  or  principle 
adequate  to  the  satisfactory  solution  of  the  question,  whether 
the  domesticated  sheep — the  Ovis  aries  of  Linnaeus — was 
created  as  such  in  special  relation  to  the  exigencies  of  man ; 
or  whether  it  was  the  result  of  man’s  interference  with  the 
habits  and  wild  mode  of  life  of  the  argali  (Ovis  ammon 
of  Linnaeus),  or  other  untamed  and  unsubdued  species  of 
sheep.  Analogy  would  point  to  the  latter  hypothesis  as  the 
more  probable  one.  Domesticated  varieties  of  animals  have 
been  established  from  wild  originals  for  the  behoof  of  man¬ 
kind,  within  a  comparatively  recent  period  in  his  history; 
of  which  the  turkey,  introduced  and  diffused  over  Europe 
and  Asia  since  the  discovery  of  America,  is  an  example. 
Permanent  varieties  of  the  Ovis  aries  itself  have  been  in¬ 
stituted  by  the  art  and  interference  of  man,  of  which  I  shall 
presently  have  to  recount  the  chief  circumstances  of  a  very 
recent  and  remarkable  instance.  The  most  ancient  records 
of  our  race,  both  sacred  and  profane,  tell  us  of  the  sheep 
as  already  an  animal  domesticated  for  the  food  and  clothing 
of  man;  and  it  is  a  significant  fact,  that  both  the  Scythians 
of  the  elevated  plains  of  Inner  Asia, — who,  according  to 
Herodotus,  obtained  felt,f  and,  according  to  Strabo, J  food 

*  A  characteristic  fossil  of  this  kind  found  associated  with  re¬ 
mains  of  the  mammoth  and  leptorhine  rhinoceros,  in  the  newer 
fresh-water  pleiocene  of  Walton,  in  Essex,  is  figured  in  my  “His¬ 
tory  of  British  Fossil  Mammalia,”  p.  489,  cut  204. 

-j-  Herodotus,  iv.  73,  “They  live  under  trees,  covering  the  tree 
in  winter  with  strong  and  thick  undyed  felt,  and  removing  the  felt 
in  summer.” 

J  “They  do  not  till  the  ground,  hut  derive  their  sustenance 
from  sheep  aud  fish,  after  the  manner  of  the  nomadic  Scythians.” 
— Strabo,  xi.  cap.  viii.  p.  486.  Both  cited  by  Mr.  Yates  in  his 
classical  work,  “  Textrinum  Anti  quorum.” 


FROM  THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM. 


G5 


from  their  flocks — and  the  patriarchal  Hebrew  shepherds 
of  the  plains  of  Mesopotamia — the  earliest  instances  of 
pastoral  life — dwelt  in  that  part  of  the  earth  where  the 
wild  argali  (  Ovis  ammon )  still  exists  in  greatest  numbers. 

The  ancient  Hebrews  were  wholly  an  agricultural  and 
pastoral  people.  Their  pastures  are  described,  in  the  65th 
Psalm,  as  being  “  clothed  with  flocks.”  The  religious 
metaphors  of  the  Bible  are  chiefly  derived  from  pastoral 
life,  and  in  no  part  more  touchingly  than  in  the  sacred  po¬ 
ems  ascribed  to  the  Royal  Psalmist : — “  The  Lord  is  my 
shepherd.  I  shall  not  want.  He  maketh  me  to  lie  down 
in  green  pastures ;  he  leadeth  me  beside  the  still  waters. 
Yea,  though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of 
death,  I  will  fear  no  evil;  for  thou  art  with  me;  thy  crook 
and  thy  staff,  they  comfort  me.”  (Ps.  xxiii.  1,  2,  4.)  And 
again,  how  beautiful  a  pastoral  picture  is  portrayed  in  the 
following  few  and  simple  words :  “  He  shall  feed  his  flock 
like  a  shepherd ;  he  shall  gather  the  lambs  with  his  arm, 
and  carry  them  in  his  bosom,  and  shall  gently  lead  those 
that  are  with  young.”  (Isa.  xl.  11.)  It  is  not,  however, 
from  the  records  of  a  people  so  exclusive  as  the  Jews  that 
we  can  trace  the  course  of  the  diffusion  of  domesticated 
flocks  from  the  Asiatic  centre  where  history  points  to  the 
beginning  of  pastoral  life.  The  classical  authors  of  Greece 
and  Rome,  however,  afford  sufficient  indication  of  the  chan¬ 
nels  by  which  this  element  of  civilization  was  diffused.  We 
learn  from  Strabo,  that  sheep-breeding  had  extended  to 
Northern  Africa;  and  that,  in  his  time,  the  dry  and  hot 
climate  of  ^Ethiopia  exercised  the  same  influence  on  the 
growth  of  wool  as  at  the  present  day:  “  The  ./Ethiopian 
sheep,”  he  says,  “  were  small,  and  instead  of  being  woolly, 
were  hairy  like  goats.”*  Of  the  numbers  of  the  domesti¬ 
cated  sheep  in  Northern  Africa  at  the  time  of  Pindar  we 
may  form  an  idea  from  the  epithet  u TroXt^Xos,” — “abound¬ 
ing  in  flocks,”  applied  by  that  poet'f'  to  distinguish  Lybia. 

It  appears,  by  quotations  from  Hipponax — a  poet  of  Ephe¬ 
sus,  who  flourished  about ‘540  years  before  Christ,  and  who 
alludes  to  the  woollen  fabrics  of  the  Coraxi,  who  occupied 

*  Cap.  ii.  sec.  1,  3,  cited  in  “Textr.  Ant.,”  p.  94. 

f  Pyth.  ix.  11,  cited  in  ibid.,  p.  25. 

6* 


66 


ON  THE  RAW  MATERIALS 


part  of  modern  Circassia — as  well  as  from  contemporary 
reference  to  the  commerce  of  Miletus,  at  that  period  the 
greatest  commercial  city  next  to  Tyre  and  Carthage,  that 
the  progress  of  sheep-breeding  towards  the  north-west  was 
across  the  Euxine  Sea,  and  the  straits  connected  with  it, 
into  Europe.  Thrace  is  called  by  Homer  “  the  mother  of 
flocks;”*  and  this  is  the  earliest  record  of  the  domestic 
sheep  in  Europe.  From  Thrace  we  trace  them  to  Thessaly, 
and  thence  to  Greece,  where  they  were  so  generally  and 
successfully  reared  and  tended,  that  “  Arcadia”  became  the 
scene  of  all  that  the  poets  sing  of  the  beautiful  in  pastoral 
life.  Here  the  god  Pan  was  feigned  to  be  born — Pan  the 
god  of  Arcadia;  and  to  trace  his  worship  from  Greece  to 
the  colonies  settled  in  Italy  and  Spain  is  to  follow  the  pro¬ 
gress  of  the  diffusion  of  the  domesticated  flocks  and  the 
pastoral  people  over  whom  Pan  especially  presided. 

From  Spain  and  Italy  the  breeding  of  sheep  extended  into 
Germany  and  Gaul;  and  Caesar  found  abundant  cattle 
( pecoris  magnus  numerics'),  which  may  be  inferred  to  in¬ 
clude  sheep,  amongst  the  aborigines  of  Cantium  or  Kent, 
whom  he  describes  as  being  “  the  most  advanced  in  civiliza¬ 
tion  of  all  the  ancient  Britons.”  I  shall  here  quit  the  his¬ 
tory  of  the  diffusion  of  the  domestic  sheep,  with  the  remark 
tha.t  some  of  those  procedures,  which  are  now  most  influ¬ 
ential  in  improving  the  staple  of  the  fleece,  were  practised 
in  ancient  times.  Yarrof  speaks  of  the  custom  of  the 
Athenian  shepherds  of  covering  their  sheep  with  skins,  in 
order  to  improve  the  fleece ;  and  the  Cynic  Diogenes,  in 
reference  to  a  similar  practice  amongst  the  shepherds  of  Me- 
garis,  whose  children  were  allowed  to  run  about  naked, 
says,  “  he  would  rather  be  the  ram,  than  the  son,  of  a  Mega- 
rensian.”| 

The  continuance  of  these  arts  of  ancient  pastoral  life, 
combined  with  suitable  climate  and  locality,  and  the  exer¬ 
cise  of  skill  and  tact  in  crossing  and  breeding  from  the  best 
varieties  of  the  domesticated  sheep,  have  combined  to  produce 
the  fine  qualities  of  the  staple,  which  were  so  remarkably 

*  Iliad,  A.  222. 

f  De  Re  Rustica,  ii.  2.  (“Textr.  Ant.,”  p.  40.) 

I  Diog.  Laert.  vi.  41.  (Ib.  p.  42.) 


FROM  THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM.  67 

illustrated  in  the  specimens  exhibited  in  the  Crystal 
Palace. 

After  the  comparison  of  the  wools  exhibited  by  the 
growers  of  different  nations,  our  Jury  were  unanimous  in 
making  the  first  mention  of  those  transmitted  from  Ger¬ 
many  as  being  pre-eminent  in  the  qualities  of  highest  value. 

Under  “  German  Wools’5  were  included  those  from  Aus¬ 
tria  and  Austrian  Silesia,  Hungary,  Prussia,  Saxony,  and 
Polish  Silesia.  In  Austria,  the  J ury  made  first  mention  of 
the  specimens  exhibited  under  No.  90,  by  Messrs.  Figdor 
and  Sons.  The  fleeces  exhibited  by  this  firm  presented  in 
a  high  degree  the  desired  qualities  of  substance  and  true¬ 
ness  in  the  staple,  due  to  the  equality  of  size,  and  to  the 
fineness  and  elasticity  of  the  component  fibres,  the  spiral 
curves  of  which  were  close  and  regular,  and  were  immedi¬ 
ately  resumed  after  being  obliterated  by  stretching  the  fibre, 
the  length  of  which  was  also  considerable  for  wool  of  this 
“  felting”  quality,  the  most  valuable  for  the  finest  descrip¬ 
tions  of  cloth. 

Under  No.  92  Count  II.  Larisch  Moennich  exhibited  the 
product  of  a  fine  and  well-known  flock,  from  Silesia,  by  four 
fleeces,  which  presented  similar  excellent  qualities  to  those 
of  No.  90. 

The  fine  and  high-bred  fleeces  of  a  pure  stock  merino, 
from  Silesia,  exhibited  under  No.  91  by  Count  Anton  von 
Mittrowski,  showed  the  valuable  qualities  of  fineness  and 
elasticity  of  fibre  in  an  eminent  degree. 

No.  89,  sent  by  Count  Joseph  Hunyada  von  Ketheley, 
was  a  fleece  from  a  flock  in  Hungary,  an  unwashed  spe¬ 
cimen,  but  of  a  very  fine  quality  of  fibre;  it  was  a  little 
inferior  to  the  best  Silesian  examples  only  in  being  some¬ 
what  thinner  or  poorer  in  substance.  The  fine  imbrication 
and  elastic  properties  of  the  fibre  were,  however,  remarkably 
characteristic  of  this  fleece. 

From  the  difficulty  of  arriving  at  a  correct  judgment  of 
the  degrees  of  individual  merit,  especially  from  samples 
giving  an  uncertain  indication  of  the  average  value  of  the 
produce  of  the  flocks,  the  Jury,  whilst  awarding  the  prize 
medal  to  the  best  exhibitors,  came  to  the  conclusion  of 
testifying  their  sense  of  the  peculiar  value  and  excellence 
of  the  felting  or  carding  wools,  adapted  to  the  manufacture 


68 


ON  THE  RAW  MATERIALS 


of  the  finest  kinds  of  cloth,  which  were  exhibited  in  the 
Austrian  department,  by  recommending  the  transmission  of 
a  Council  medal  to  the  Government  of  that  empire. 

In  the  Zollverein,  the  fleeces  transmitted  by  E.  Liibbert 
from  Zweybrodt,  near  Breslau,  were  very  remarkable  for 
those  qualities  which,  like  the  Austrian  Silesian  wools,  adapt 
them  for  the  fabrication  of  the  finest  cloths.  The  merino 
fleeces  of  two-year-old  ewes,  from  Bromberg,  exhibited  by 
Legations-Bath  Ivuepfer,  were  characterized  by  the  fineness 
and  regularity  of  the  staple,  and  favourably  illustrated  the 
advance  of  the  improvement  of  wool  in  the  Prussian  districts 
of  the  Middle  Vistula.  I  must  also  mention  the  specimens 
exhibited  under  Nos.  45  and  46  by  the  Oberburggraf  von 
Briinneck,  viz.  the  fleeces  of  a  ram  and  one  ewe  from  a 
merino  flock  at  Bellschwitz,  and  the  specimens  of  wool  in¬ 
discriminately  taken  from  a  merino  flock  at  Bosenberg;  for 
these,  though  rather  inferior  in  quality  to  the  finest  Silesian 
wools,  manifested  a  fineness,  softness,  and  elasticity  of  fibre, 
and  a  regularity  of  staple,  which  in  the  opinion  of  the  Jury 
merited  an  award  to  the  exhibitor  of  the  prize  medal.  The 
Bellschwitz  flock  was  procured  by  the  Oberburggraf  in  Spain 
in  1814,  and  afterwards  improved  by  additions  of  the  finest 
Saxon  and  Silesian  races  in  1820  and  1824. 

In  America,  the  wool  transmitted  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Ewing, 
from  Washington,  Pennsylvania,  was  remarkable  for  the 
good  substance  of  the  fleece,  as  well  as  for  the  quality  of 
the  fibre,  and  the  Jury  awarded  to  him  the  prize  medal. 
One  of  the  able  Experts,  who  rendered  valuable  aid  to  the 
Jury,  was  of  opinion  that  “the  wools  shown  by  America 
most  approximated  to  the  character  of  the  German  wools.” 

In  Bussia,  the  specimens  of  wool  from  Livonia  ex¬ 
hibited  by  N.  N.  Schloss-Wikaten,  appeared  to  be  derived 
from  a  flock  of  Silesian  origin,  and  exhibited  all  those 
characters  of  the  fibre  which  adapt  it  for  good  clothing 
purposes. 

The  wool  from  the  merino  sheep  from  Spain,  for  which 
that  country  was  once  so  famous,  showed  all  those  charac¬ 
ters  which  distinguished  it  a  century  ago;  but  not  the 
advance  and  improvement  made  by  the  sheep-breeders 
who  have  since  introduced  the  same  variety  into  suitable 


FROM  THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM.  69 

localities  in  Saxony,  Prussia,  Austria,  Hungary,  and 
Austro-Silesia. 

The  best  examples  of  Spanish  wool  were  exhibited  under 
No.  230,  by  Hon  Justo  Hernandez.  Of  black  and  white 
wool  from  Salamanca,  four  samples  were  transmitted  by  this 
exhibitor: — 1.  Unwashed  wool  for  clothing  purposes;  2. 
Unwashed  wool  for  worsted;  3.  Wool  washed  before  shear¬ 
ing,  in  the  Saxon  manner;  4.  Wool  sheared  in  February 
1851.  Don  Hernandez  had  introduced  into  Spain  the 
custom  of  clothing  the  sheep  from  the  beginning  of  Decem¬ 
ber  to  the  end  of  May;  and  amongst  the  specimens  trans¬ 
mitted  to  the  Exhibition,  was  a  fleece  which  had  been  so 
defended,  and  one  that  had  been  exposed  to  the  direct 
influence  of  the  atmospheric  agencies.  The  difference  in 
the  quality  was  remarkable,  and  spoke  decidedly  in  favour 
of  the  temporary  protection  of  the  fleece. 

In  France,  the  specimens  of  wool  selected  as  meriting  the 
reward  of  the  prize  medal,  were  those  exhibited  under  No. 
1249,  by  Le  General  Girod  de  l’Ain.  The  fleeces  of 
merino  wool,  from  this  exhibitor’s  flock  at  Nuz,  although 
of  a  thin  staple,  and  apparently  not  full  grown,  manifested 
the  qualities  adapting  it  for  the  finer  descriptions  of  cloth 
in  an  excellent  degree.  No.  1080,  from  the  “National 
Sheep-fold  of  liambouillet,”  showed  similar  qualities  in 
four  fleeces  of  the  true  merinos.  No.  1312,  E.  Lefevre : 
the  specimens  of  wool  in  tufts  transmitted  by  this  exhibitor 
from  Gevrolles  (Cote  d’Or)  were  long  in  the  staple  and 
very  sound,  forming  a  very  superior  description  of  combing 
ivool.  No.  354,  F.  Ilicher:  the  two  fleeces  of  rams,  of 
pure  merino  breed,  two  years  old,  transmitted  from  Gouvix, 
Calvados,  exhibited  praiseworthy  care  and  skill  in  the 
management  of  the  flocks. 

Amongst  the  scries  of  wools  shown  in  the  French  depart¬ 
ment  were  specimens  characterized  by  a  well-skilled  English 
expert  as  “a  wool  of  singular  and  peculiar  properties;  the 
hair  glossy  and  silky,  similar  to  mohair,  retaining  at  the 
same  time  certain  properties  of  the  merino  breed.”  This 
wool  was  exhibited  under  No.  245,  by  J.  L.  Graux,  of  the 
farm  of  Mauchamp,  Commune  de  Juvincourt  (Aisne),  as 
the  produce  of  a  peculiar  variety  of  the  merino  breed  of 
sheep. 


70 


ON  THE  RAW  MATERIALS 

The  Jury  entered  into  an  inquiry,  not  only  into  the 
commercial  value  and  application,  hut  into  the  particulars 
of  the  production  of  this  new  kind  of  wool,  and  found  it  to 
be  one  of  the  very  few  instances  in  which  the  origination  of 
a  distinct  variety  of  a  domestic  quadruped  could  be  satis¬ 
factorily  traced,  with  all  the  circumstances  attending  its 
developement  well  authenticated.  The  following  is  a  brief 
statement  of  this  interesting  case. 

In  the  year  1828,  one  of  the  ewes  of  the  flock  of  merinos 
in  the  farm  of  Mauchamp  produced  a  male  lamb,  which,  as 
it  grew  up,  became  remarkable  for  the  long,  smooth,  straight, 
and  silky  character  of  the  fibre  of  the  wool,  and  for  the 
smoothness  of  its  horns  :  it  was  of  small  size,  and  presented 
certain  defects  in  its  conformation,  which  have  disappeared 
in  its  descendants.  In  1829  M.  Graux  employed  this  ram 
with  a  view  to  obtain  other  rams  having  the  same  quality 
of  wool.  The  produce  of  1830  included  only  one  ram  and 
one  ewe  having  the  silky  quality  of  the  wool;  that  of  1831 
produced  four  rams  and  one  ewe  with  the  fleece  of  that 
quality;  in  the  year  1833  the  rams  with  the  silky  variety 
of  wool  were  sufficiently  numerous  of  themselves  to  serve 
the  whole  flock.  In  each  subsequent  year  the  lambs  have 
been  of  the  two  kinds;  one  preserving  the  characters  of  the 
ancient  race,  with  the  curled,  elastic  wool,  only  a  little 
longer  and  liner  than  in  the  ordinary  merinos ;  the  other 
resembling  the  rams  of  the  new  breed,  some  of  which  re¬ 
tained  the  large  head,  long  neck,  narrow  chest,  and  long 
flanks  of  the  abnormal  progenitor,  whilst  others  combined 
the  ordinary  and  better  formed  body  with  the  fine  silky 
wool.  M.  Graux,  profiting  by  this  partial  resumption  of  the 
normal  type  of  the  merino  in  certain  of  the  descendants  of 
the  mal-formed  original  variety,  at  length  succeeded,  by  a 
judicious  system  of  crossing  and  interbreeding,  in  obtaining 
a  flock  combining  the  long  fine  silky  fleece  with  a  smaller 
head,  shorter  neck,  broader  flanks,  and  more  capacious  chest. 
Of  this  breed  the  flocks  have  become  sufficiently  numerous 
to  enable  the  proprietor  to  sell  examples  of  the  breed  for 
exportation.  Tbc  crossing  of  the  Mauchamp  variety  with 
the  ordinary  merino  has  also  produced  a  valuable  quality  of 
wool,  known  in  France  as  the  “  Mauchamp  merino.”  The 
fine,  silky  wool  of  the  pure  Mauchamp  breed  is  remarkable 


i 


FROM  THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM. 


71 


for  its  qualities  as  combining  wool,  owing  to  the  strength  as 
well  as  the  length  and  fineness  of  the  fibre.  It  is  found  of 
great  value  by  the  manufacturers  of  Cashmere  shawls,  being 
second  only  to  the  true  Cashmere  fleece  in  the  fine  flexible 
delicacy  of  the  fabric,  and  of  particular  utility  when  com¬ 
bined  with  the  Cashmere  wool,  in  imparting  to  the  manu¬ 
facture  qualities  of  strength  and  consistence  in  which  the 
pure  Cashmere  is  deficient. 

Although  the  quantity  of  the  wool  yielded  by  the  Mau- 
champ  variety  is  less  than  in  the  ordinary  merinos,  the 
higher  price  which  it  obtains  in  the  French  market  (25  per 
cent,  above  the  best  merino  wools),  and  the  present  value 
of  the  breed,  have  fully  compensated  M.  Graux  for  the 
pains  and  care  which  he  has  manifested  in  the  establishment 
of  the  variety.  Our  Jury,  therefore,  taking  into  considera¬ 
tion  the  quality  of  invention  which  had  been  superadded  to 
the  skill  and  industry  requisite  for  obtaining  the  finer  quali¬ 
ties  of  wool  under  any  circumstances,  in  the  developement 
of  the  new  variety  of  sheep  yielding  the  specimens  exhibited 
in  No.  245,  recommended  that  the  Council  medal  should  be 
awarded  to  M.  J.  L.  Graux. 

The  comparatively  moist  climate  of  England  is  unfavoura¬ 
ble  to  the  developement  of  the  highest  qualities  of  wool. 
We  are  essentially  a  practical  people,  and  it  does  not  pay  to 
give  the  sheep  the  extensive  range,  or  allow  them  the  length 
of  life,  which  are  amongst  the  conditions  to  be  added  to 
climate  for  the  acquisition  of  the  finest  fleece.  The  inter¬ 
minable  plains  and  mountain-ranges  of  Australia  and  Tas¬ 
mania,  where  the  flocks  graze  under  the  most  favourable  of 
skies,  serve  to  produce  for  us  the  wools  required  for  our 
manufacturers  cheaper  than  they  could  be  developed  at 
home.  Our  business  is  to  breed  sheep  for  mutton,  not  for 
wool :  to  improve  the  stocks  which  in  the  shortest  time  put 
the  most  meat  on  the  smallest  bones.  The  fleece  must 
always,  therefore,  be  a  secondary  object  with  a  good  farm¬ 
er.  Nevertheless,  very  respectable  samples  of  wool  were 
exhibited  in  the  English  department  of  the  Great  Exhi¬ 
bition. 

The  samples  of  wool  transmitted  from  Chichester  by  Mr. 
C.  Dorrien  gave  evidence  of  a  very  high-bred  flock,  and 


ON  THE  RAW  MATERIALS 


manifested  qualities  of  fibre  for  which  the  Jury  awarded 
the  prize  medal. 

The  specimens  of  wool  from  the  South  Down  wool,  trans¬ 
mitted  by  Mr.  J.  Gr.  Rebow,  also  presented  qualities  of  such 
excellence  as  to  call  for  the  award  of  the  prize  medal. 

The  fleeces  of  Cheviot  wool,  grown  at  an  elevation  of 
2600  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  exhibited  by  Mr.  Hen¬ 
derson,  of  Wooler,  Northumberland,  were  remarkable  for 
the  fine  silky  quality  of  the  fibre,  which  is  well  adapted  for 
the  blanket  manufactory. 

Perhaps  many  wTho  are  now  present  may  recollect  an 
object  of  curiosit}7  which  was  shown  in  the  south  gallery 
of  the  English  Department.  It  wTas  a  South  Down  ewe, 
stuffed,  seven  years  old,  which  had  never  been  shorn.  The 
weight  of  the  accumulated  annual  fleeces  was  36  lbs.  This 
specimen  was  exhibited  by  Mr.  J.  Moore,  of  Littlecot  Farm, 
Pewscy,  Wilts. 

In  the  department  of  Australia  the  case  containing  132 
specimens  of  merino  wool,  contributed  by  Lieut. -Col.  E. 
Macarthur,  exhibited  very  favourable  examples  of  the  con¬ 
dition  of  the  fleeces  of  that  valuable  variety  of  the  sheep  in 
New  South  Wales.  The  Jury  regretted  that  the  quantities 
transmitted  were  too  small  to  afford  the  requisite  means  of 
judging  of  the  average  qualities  of  the  flocks;  but,  taking 
into  consideration  the  important  services  rendered  by  Lieut. - 
Col.  Macarthur  to  the  colony  of  Australia  by  his  persever¬ 
ing  and  successful  endeavours  to  develope  a  source  of 
wealth  from  the  merino  breed  of  sheep,  they  awarded  to 
him  the  prize  medal. 

The  first  importation  of  wool  from  New  South  Wales 
into  England,  in  1807,  was  245  lbs.  In  the  year  1848 
the  quantity  from  New  South  Wales  alone  amounted  to 
23,000,000  lbs.,  valued  at  more  than  1,200,000b  sterling.* 

In  Russia,  good  examples  of  fine  unwashed  Cashmere 
goats’  hair  were  exhibited  by  J.  Abramoff,  of  Ekaterino- 
slaff,  and  L.  K.  Narishkin,  of  Saratoff,  district  of  Bala- 
sheffsk. 

Iu  India,  specimens  of  the  wool  of  the  sheep,  the  lamb, 
and  the  camel,  were  exhibited  from  Cutch,  Sindh,  and 

*  “Official  Catalogue,”  vol.  ii.  p.  989. 


FROM  THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM. 


73 


Assam.  Goats’  hair,  or  down,  of  Thibetian,  Persian,  and 
Hindostanee  breeds,  was  also  transmitted,  together  with  a 
fine  silky  kind  of  down  from  the  “Tsos”  antelope. 

The  specimens  of  wool,  or  down,  the  production  of  the 
Cashmere  goats  kept  by  his  Royal  Highness  Prince  Albert 
at  Windsor,  and  exhibited  by  his  Royal  Highness,  were  in¬ 
teresting  examples  of  an  additional  staple  new  to  England, 
and  gave  encouragement  by  their  quality  to  the  repetition 
of  similar  efforts  to  multiply  and  preserve  that  remarkable 
variety  of  the  genus  Capra.  This  staple  includes,  besides 
the  closer  and  finer  hairs  answering  to  the  wool  of  sheep  and 
the  fur  of  other  quadrupeds,  a  coarser  or  stronger  kind  of 
white  hairs.  Roth  kinds  are  of  value  in  manufactures — the 
stronger  hairs,  which  require  to  be  picked  out  prior  to  at¬ 
tempting  to  manufacture  the  finer  portions,  being  after¬ 
wards  used  in  the  fabrication  of  coarse  woollen  cloths.  This 
example  of  European  Cashmere  wool  would  have  received  a 
medal  from  Jury  IV.  had  not  one  already  been  awarded  to 
it  by  the  Jury  of  Class  XII. 

Hair  and  Bristles. 

Of  the  specimens  of  hair  and  bristles,  a  brief  notice  will 
suffice.  The  best  developed  and  most  valuable  examples  of 
these  productions  were  exhibited  in  the  Russian  department, 
in  which  the  Jury  selected  those  shown  under  No.  340,  by 
Kondriaozof  and  Jadenofsky,  for  the  award  of  the  prize 
medal,  merited  by  the  superior  qualities  of  the  horse-hair 
exhibited  by  them  under  that  number.  In  the  sample  of 
white  hair  from  the  tail,  the  hairs  were  forty  inches  in 
length,  and  of  the  first  quality  for  evenness,  elasticity,  and 
shining  surface.  In  the  sample  of  black  tails,  the  hairs  were 
forty-two  inches  in  length.  Fine  specimens  of  white  hair 
from  the  mane,  of  from  twenty-eight  to  thirty  inches  in 
length,  both  transparent  and  opaque,  and  good  samples  of 
horse-hair  for  furniture,  both  twisted  and  untwisted,  black, 
gray,  and  white,  were  also  shown  by  the  above  firm. 

Of  the  sample  of  bristles  exhibited  in  the  Russian  depart¬ 
ment,  the  Jury  selected  No.  135,  sent  by  MM.  Semenoff  and 
Faleyeff,  as  deserving,  from  the  superiority  of  the  combined 
qualities  of  strength,  elasticity,  and  fineness  of  surface,  the 
7 


74 


ON  THE  RAW  MATERIALS 


prize  medal.  These  qualities  were  particularly  shown  in 
the  packets  of  the  sorted  variety  called  “  okatka.” 

Camels’  hair  cloth,  bristles  from  the  wild  boar  and  the 
elephant,  and  quills  of  the  porcupine,  were  exhibitedin  the 
Indian  department ;  and  I  must  not  omit  to  mention  that 
in  the  department  of  Spain,  Don  D.  Delgado,  of  Saragossa, 
exhibited  some  interesting  examples  of  the  hair  of  the  rab¬ 
bit  and  hare,  shaved  off  the  skin  by  a  mechanical  process. 
The  vast  numbers  of  those  prolific  rodents  in  Spain  afford  a 
large  supply  of  this  kind  of  hair,  which  is  put  to  the  same 
use  as  down. 


Baleen. 


I  have  next  to  speak  of  a  substance  which,  though  com¬ 
monly  called  “  whalebone,”  has  nothing  of  the  nature  of 
bone  in  it,  but  is  an  albuminous  tissue,  nearly  allied  to  hair 
and  bristles,  both  in  its  chemical  and  vital  properties  and  ita 
mode  of  developement. 

Of  all  the  creatures  which  man  has  subdued  for  his  ad¬ 
vantage  and  use,  that  which  surpasses  every  other  animal 
in  bulk,  and  which  lives  in  an  element  unfitted  for  man’s 
existence,  might  be  supposed  to  be  the  last  that  he  would 
have  the  audacity  to  attack  or  the  power  to  overcome.  The 
great  whales  that  u  tempest  the  ocean”  are  able,  as  many 
instances — and  a  very  recent  one — have  shown,  to  stave  in 
the  bottom  of  a  ship  by  a  blow  of  their  muzzle,  and  crack  a 
boat  by  a  nip  of  their  jaws,  as  easily  as  we  would  a  nut. 
“  Si  sua  robora  norint !” — if  they  did  but  know  their  strengt  h, 
and  how  to  use  it,  pursuit  would  be  in  vain,  and  whales 
would  become  the  most  dreaded  instead  of  the  most  coveted 
of  the  denizens  of  the  deep. 

The  cetaceans,  which  afford  the  whalebone,  or,  more  pro¬ 
perly,  baleen-plates,  are  of  a  more  timid  nature  than  the 
great  sperm-whales,  which  commonly  cause  the  catastrophes 
alluded  to;  they  have  no  teeth,  but  in  their  place  they  have 
substitutes  in  the  form  of  horny  plates,  ending  in  a  fringe 
of  bristles — a  peculiarity  first  pointed  out  by  Aristotle.* 

*  The  passage  occurs  in  the  12th  chapter  of  the  3d  hook  of  the 
“  Historia  Animalium,”  and  has  given  rise  to  much  speculation 
and  controversy:  “  Mysticetus  etiam  pilos  in  ore  intus  habet  vice 


FROM  THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM. 


75 


Of  these  plates,  properly  called  “  baleen,”  the  largest,  which 
are  of  an  inequilateral  triangular  form,  are  arranged  in  a 
single  longitudinal  series  on  each  side  of  the  upper  jaw, 
situated  pretty  close  to  each  other,  depending  vertically  from 
the  jaw,  with  their  flat  surfaces  looking  backwards  and  for¬ 
wards,  and  their  unattached  margins  outwards  and  inwards, 
the  direction  of  their  interspaces  being  nearly  transverse  to 
the  axis  of  the  skull.  The  smaller  subsidiary  plates  are 
arranged  in  oblique  series,  internal  to  the  marginal  ones. 
The  base  of  each  plate  is  hollow,  and  is  fixed  upon  a  pulp 
developed  from  a  vascular  gum,  which  is  attached  to  a 
broad  and  shallow  depression  occupying  the  whole  of  the 
palatal  surface  of  the  maxillary,  and  of  the  anterior  part  of 
the  palatine  bones.  The  base  of  each  marginal  plate  is  the 
smallest  of  the  three  sides  of  the  triangle;  it  is  unequally 
imbedded  in  a  compact  subelastic  substance,  which  is  so 
much  deeper  on  the  outer  than  on  the  inner  side,  as  in  the 
new-born  whale  to  include  more  than  one-half  of  the  outer 
margin  of  the  baleen-plate.  The  form  of  the  baleen-clad 
roof  of  the  mouth  is  that  of  a  transverse  arch  or  vault, 
against  which  the  convex  dorsum  of  the  thick  and  large 
tongue  is  applied  when  the  mouth  is  closed.  Each  plate 
sends  off  from  its  inner  and  oblique  margin  the  fringe  of 
moderately  stiff  but  flexible  hairs  which  projects  into  the 
mouth.  The  bases  of  the  baleen-plates  do  not  stand  far 
apart  from  one  another,  but  the  anterior  and  posterior  walls 
of  the  pulp-fissure  are  respectively  confluent  with  the  con¬ 
tiguous  divisions  of  the  bases  of  the  adjoining  plates  at  their 
thin  and  extreme  margins,  which  by  this  confluence  close 
the  basal  end  of  the  interspace  of  the  baleen-plates,  which 
interspace  is  occupied  more  than  half  way  down  the  plate 
by  the  cementing  substance,  or  gum.  Thin  layers  of  horn 
in  like  manner  connect  the  contiguous  plates,  and  may  be 
traced  extending  in  parallel  curves  with  the  basal  connect¬ 
ing  layer  across  the  cementing  substance. 

The  baleen-pulp  is  situated  in  a  cavity  at  the  base  of  the 

dentium,  suiilis  setis  similes.”  To  a  person  looking  into  the  month 
of  a  stranded  whale,  the  concavity  of  the  palate  would  appear  to  be 
beset  with  coarse  hair.  The  species  of  Halcenoplera,  which  fre¬ 
quents  the  Mediterranean,  might  have  affoi’ded  to  the  Father  of 
Zoology  the  subject  of  his  comparison. 


76 


ON  THE  RAW  MATERIALS 


plate,  like  the  pulp  of  a  tooth ;  whilst  the  external  cement¬ 
ing  material  maintains,  both  with  respect  to  this  pulp,  and 
to  the  portion  of  the  baleen-plate  which  it  developes,  the 
same  relations  as  the  dental  capsule  bears  to  the  tooth. 
According  to  these  analogies,  it  must  follow  that  only  the 
central  fibrous  or  tubular  portion  of  the  baleen-plate  is 
formed,  like  the  dentine,  by  the  basal  pulp,  and  that  the 
base  of  the  plate  is  not  only  fixed  in  its  place  by  the  cement¬ 
ing  substance  or  capsule,  but  must*  also  receive  an  accession 
of  horny  material  from  it. 

The  baleen-plates  are  smallest  at  the  two  extremities  of 
the  series;  in  the  Southern  whale  (Balcena  Australis )  they 
rapidly  increase  in  length  to  the  thirtieth,  then  very  gra¬ 
dually  increase  in  length  to  about  the  one  hundred  and 
fortieth  ;  from  this  they  as  gradually  diminish  to  the  one 
hundred  and  sixtieth  plate,  and  thence  rapidly  slope  away 
to  the  same  small  size  as  that  with  which  the  series  com¬ 
menced.  Besides  the  external,  and,  as  they  may  be  termed, 
the  normal,  plates,  which  have  just  been  described,  there 
are  developed  from  the  inner  part  of  the  palatal  gum,  in  the 
Bakina  Australis,  a  series  of  smaller  fringed  processes,  pro¬ 
gressively  decreasing  in  size  as  they  recede  from  the  large 
external  plates :  the  small  plates  clothe  the  middle  region 
of  the  palate  with  a  finer  kind  of  hair,  against  which  the 
surface  of  the  tongue  more  immediately  rests;  they  are 
also  arranged  in  longitudinal  series,  which,  however,  are  not 
parallel  with  the  external  one,  but  pass  from  the  inner  mar¬ 
gin  of  that  series  in  oblique  lines  inwards  and  backwards. 

In  the  great  Northern  whole  ( Bakina  mysticetus )  the 
baleen-plates  which  succeed  the  large  ones  of  the  outer 
row,  are  more  numerous,  and  are  relatively  longer  and 
larger  than  in  the  Balcena  Australis.  Mr.  Scoresby,  who, 
in  his  account  of  the  Balcena  mysticetus,  notices  only  the 
marginal  plates,  states  that  they  are  about  two  hundred  in 
number  on  each  side;  the  largest  are  from  ten  to  fourteen 
feet,  very  rarely  fifteen  feet  in  length,  and  about  a  foot  in 
breadth  at  their  base.  These  plates  arc  overlapped,  and 
concealed  by  the  under  lip  when  the  mouth  is  shut.  In 
the  Balcenopterce,  or  fin-backed  whales,  the  baleen-processes 
internal  to  the  marginal  plates  are  fewer  and  smaller  than 
in  the  true  whales  ( Balance ).  The  marginal  plates  are 


FROM  THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM. 


77 


more  numerous,  exceeding  three  hundred  on  each  side; 
they  are  broader  in  proportion  to  their  length,  and  much 
smaller  in  proportion  to  the  entire  animal;  they  are  also 
more  bent  in  the  direction  transverse  to  their  long  axis. 

Each  plate  of  the  baleen  consists  of  a  central,  coarse, 
fibrous  substance,  and  an  exterior  compact  fibrous  layer; 
but  this  reaches  to  a  certain  extent  only,  beyond  which  the 
central  part  projects  in  the  form  of  the  fringe  of  bristles. 
The  chemical  basis  of  baleen,  according  to  the  experienced 
Professor  Brande,  is  albumen  hardened  by  a  small  propor¬ 
tion  of  phosphate  of  lime.* 

The  final  purpose  of  this  singular  armature  of  the  upper 
jaw  of  the  great  whales  is  to  secure  the  capture  and  reten¬ 
tion  of  the  small  floating  mollusks  and  crustaceans,  which 
serve  principally  as  their  food.  When  the  capacious  mouth 
is  opened,  the  water  rushes  in,  and  is  strained  through  the 
fringed  surface  of  the  roof  and  sides,  whilst  the  small  ani¬ 
mals  are  retained,  bruised  against  the  stiff  bristled  margins 
of  the  plates,  and  swallowed. 

Baleen,  or.  whalebone,  from  its  tenacity,  flexibility,  elas¬ 
ticity,  compactness,  and  lightness,  is  applied  to  a  great 
variety  of  useful  purposes.  These  were  well  exemplified 
in  the  collection  exhibited  under  No.  103,  by  Mr.  Henry 
Horan,  which  showed  well-selected  examples  of  whalebone 
plates  from  the  Arctic  whale  ( Balcena  mi/sticetus ),  which 
yields  the  largest  and  best  kind;  from  the  Antarctic  whale 
(. Balcena  Australis),  which  affords  the  second  best  kind ; 
and  from  the  great  finner  whale  ( Balccnoptera .  hoops),  which 
affords  the  shortest  and  coarsest  plates.  With  these  exam¬ 
ples  of  the  raw  material,  Mr.  Horan  exhibited  specimens 
of  the  raw  material  in  various  states  of  preparation,  and 
numerous  and  ingenious  applications  of  the  prepared  baleen, 
dyed  of  different  colours,  as,  e.  g.,  for  covering  whip-handles, 
walking-sticks,  and  telescopes,  and  in  the  form  of  shavings 
for  platting,  like  straws,  in  the  construction  of  light  hats 
and  bonnets.  An  excellent  and  instructive  series  of  prepa¬ 
rations  of  baleen  was  also  exhibited  by  Messrs.  Westall,  in 
which  was  more  especially  deserving  notice  the  great  variety 

*  For  the  microscopical  characters,  and  other  particulars  of  the 
baleen-plates,  I  must  refer  to  my  “Odontography,”  vol.  i.  p.  311. 
y  * 


78 


ON  THE  RAW  MATERIALS 


of  filamentary  modifications  of  the  whalebone  material  for 
numerous  useful  applications.  Fine  blades  of  whalebone 
from  the  Balcena  mysticetus  were  exhibited  in  the  United 
States  department,  under  No.  531,  by  Mr.  L.  Goddard;  and 
characteristic  specimens  of  baleen-plates  from  the  Balcena 
Australis  had  been  transmitted  by  Mr.  S.  Moses  from  Y  an 
Diemen’s  Land. 


Silk. 

From  a  product  of  the  most  gigantic  of  animals  I  next 
proceed  to  notice  one  derived  from  a  seemingly  insignificant 
insect  ;  yet  it  is  the  most  costly  of  all  raw  materials  for 
textile  purposes, — I  allude  to  silk.  The  most  valuable  kind 
of  silk,  and  that  which  is  the  subject  of  the  most  extensive 
and  pains-taking  culture,  is  a  secretion  of  the  larva  of  a 
species  of  moth,  indigenous  to  China,  called,  par  excellence , 
the  “silk-moth,”  and  by  entomologists  Bornbyx  mori,  from 
its  native  and  favourite  food,  the  leaves  of  the  mulberry- 
tree. 

Raw  silk  was  imported  into  Europe  long  before  the  insect 
which  produces  it;  but  the  antiquity  of  this  raw  material 
for  the  richest  of  our  textile  fabrics,  by  no  means  goes  so 
far  back  as  that  of  wool. 

There  is  no  certain  reference  to  silk  in  any  part  of  the 
Old  Testament;  the  Hebrew  word  so  rendered  by  King 
James’s  translators  (Ezekiel,  xvi.  10,  13)  may  signify  “fine 
flax;”  and  the  learned  Braunius  concludes  that  silk  was 
unknown  to  the  Hebrews.* 

The  first  definite  mention  of  silk,  with  a  notice  of  the 
creature  producing  it,  is  in  the  fifth  book  of  the  “  Historia 
Animalium”  of  Aristotle.  He  indicates  the  island  of  Cos 
as  the  place  where  silk  was  woven  into  cloth;  and  he 
mentions  (cap.  xix.  p.  850,  Duval)  four  states  of  the  in¬ 
sect  which  produces  silk,  under  the  terms  GK'o\r]^  Kaiinr], 
QoitfvXioi,  and  wiWaXoj;  and  these  terms  were  understood 
by  ancient  writers  after  Aristotle,  and  no  doubt  cor- 

*  De  Vestitu  Heb.  Sacerdotum.  My  knowledge  of  the  history 
of  silk,  as  of  wool,  is  chiefly  derived  from  the  “  Textrinum  Anti- 
quorum”  eZ  Mr.  Yates. 


FROM  THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM. 


79 


rectly  to  signify  the  states  which  modern  entomologists 
would  call  the  “young  larva,”  the  mature  or  “  spinning 
larva,”  the  “pupa”  with  its  cocoon,  and  the  “imago,”  or 
perfect  insect. 

In  the  New  Testament,  the  use  of  silk  is  mentioned  once 
unmistakeably  (Revelations,  xviii.  12). 

The  beautiful  illustration  of  the  Christian  doctrine  of 
the  resurreation,  -which  Basil,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  370, 
drew  from  insect  metamorphoses,  shows  plainly  that  he  had 
obtained  his  facts  by  a  perusal  of  the  famous  zoological 
treatise  of  Aristotle  : — “What  have  you  to  say,  who  disbe¬ 
lieve  the  assertion  of  the  Apostle  Paul  concerning  the 
change  at  the  resurrection,  when  you  see  many  of  the  in¬ 
habitants  of  the  air  changing  their  forms?  Consider,  for 
example,  the  account  of  the  horned  worm  of  India,  which, 
having  first  changed  into  a  caterpillar  (eruca  or  veruca), 
then  in  process  of  time  becomes  a  cocoon  ( bombylius  or 
homhulio ),  and  does  not  continue  even  in  this  form,  but 
assumes  light  and  expanding  wings.  Ye  women,  who  sit 
winding  upon  bobbins  the  produce  of  these  animals — 
namely,  the  threads  which  these  Seres  send  to  you  for  the 
manufacture  of  fine  garments — bear  in  mind  the  change  of 
form  in  this  creature,  derive  from  it  a  clear  conception  of 
the  resurrection,  and  discredit  not  that  transformation  which 
Paul  announces  to  us  all.”* 

Galen  judiciously  recommends  silk  threads  for  tying 
blood-vessels  in  surgical  operations.  The  Roman  poets  and 
satirists  made  frequent  mention  of  the  luxurious  silken 
clothes  and  attire,  which  were  introduced  at  enormous  ex¬ 
pense  during  the  period  of  the  Empire.  The  silk  so  obtained 
was  exported  from  Persia  and  India;  but  whether  the  Bora- 
hyx  mori  had  been  introduced  into  those  countries  at  that 
period,  or  whether  the  raw  material  was  obtained  from 
China,  is  uncertain. 

That  silk  was  most  abundant  in  China  we  learn  from  the 
oldest  records  of  the  singular  people  inhabiting  that  country, 
where  from  an  early  period,  not  only  the  mandarins,  but  all 
persons  in  easy  circumstance,  as  well  male  as  female,  have 
worn  silk,  satin,  or  damask  clothes.  Even  the  uniforms  of 

*  “  Textrinum  Antiquorum, ”  p.  215. 


80 


ON  THE  RAW  MATERIALS 


the  soldiers  were  made  then,  as  now,  of  this  elsewhere  con¬ 
sidered  so  valuable  material. 

Of  toe  wild  original  of  the  Bombyx  mori  there  is  the 
same  incertitude  as  with  regard  to  most  domesticated  ani¬ 
mals.  I  he  description  which  is  given  by  M.  Berlin  in 
his  work  entitled  “  China,  its  Costumes,  Arts,  and  Manufac¬ 
tures,  seems  to  refer,  as  M.  Latreille  remarks,  to  the  large 
Phalcena  atlas.  The  wild  silkworm  is  there  said  to  curve  a 
leaf  into  a  kind  of  cup,  and  then  to  form  a  cocoon  as  large 
and  nearly  as  hard  as  a  hen’s  egg.  These  wild  cocoons  are  so 
strong  and  so  compact,  that  the  insects  have  great  difficulty 
in  extricating  themselves,  and  therefore  remain  enclosed 
from  the  end  of  the  summer  to  the  spring  of  the  following: 
year.  These  moths  fly  well.  The  domestic  silk-moth,  on 
the  contrary,  soon  extricates  itself,  and  has  very  feeble 
powers  of  flight.  The  wild  silk-moth  feeds  indifferently  on 
the  ash,  oak,  and  nagara ;  the  Bombyx,  mori ,  as  its  name 
implies,  feeds  by  choice,  if  not  exclusively,  on  the  leaves  of 
the  mulberry-tree. 

I  have  now  to  speak  of  the  introduction  of  the  silkworm 
into  Europe.  According  to  Procopius,  the  Bombyx  mori 
was  first  introduced  into  Europe  in  the  reign  of  the  Em¬ 
peror  Justinian,  by  two  Nestorian  monks  who  had  travelled 
in  Seiinda,  which,  whether  it  be  India  or  China  is  uncer¬ 
tain,  and  who  succeeded  in  bringing  a  quantity  of  carts, — 
secured  (according  to  Photius)  in"  a  hollow  cane, — to&Cou- 
stantinople,  were  they  were  hatched,  and  the  larva,  fed  and 
1  eared  on  the  leaves  of  the  black  mulberry.  The  breeding 
of  silkworms  in  Europe  was  confined  for  six  centuries  to  the 
Greeks  of  the  Lower  Empire.  In  the  twelfth  century,  the 
rearing  of  silkworms  and  the  manufacture  of  silk  were  in¬ 
ti  odueed  by  Roger,  king  of  Sicily,  into  Palermo,  whence 
this  important  branch  of  industry  was  rapidly  and  success¬ 
fully  established  in  Italy,  Spain,  France,  England,  and 
subsequently  in  most  of  our  colonies  possessing  a  suitable 
climate. 

((  kijk  is  a  secretion  of  a  pair  of  long  glandular  tubes,  called 
“  sericteria,”  which  terminate  in  a  prominent  pore  or  spin- 
naret  on  the  under  lip.  Before  their  termination  they 
receive  the  secretion  of  a  smaller  gland,  wrhich  serves  to 
glue  together  the  two  fine  filaments  from  the  two  i(  sericte- 


FROM  THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM. 


81 


ria the  apparently  single  thread  being,  in  reality,  double, 
and  its  quality  being  affected  by  the  equality,  or  otherwise, 
of  the  secreting  power  of  the  “sericteria.”  The  silkworm 
commences  spinning  when  it  is  full  grown,  in  some  con¬ 
venient  spot  affording  points  of  attachment  for  the  first 
formed  thread,  which  is  drawn  from  one  part  to  the  other 
until  the  body  of  the  larva  becomes  loosely  enclosed  by  the 
thread.  The  work  is  then  continued  from  one  thread  to  an¬ 
other,  the  silkworm  moving  its  head  and  spinning  in  a  zig¬ 
zag  way,  in  all  directions  within  reach,  and  shifting  the 
body  only  to  cover  the  part  which  was  beneath  it.  The 
silken  case  so  formed  is  called  the  u  cocoon.”  During  the 

•  •  •  .  O 

period  of  spinning  the  cocoon,  which  usually  takes  five  days 
for  its  completion,  the  silkworm  decreases  in  size  and  length 
considerably ;  then  casts  its  skin,  becomes  torpid,  and  as¬ 
sumes  the  form  of  the  chrysalis. 

The  main  object  of  the  silkworm-breeder  is  to  obtain 
cocoons  of  a  large  size,  composed  of  a  long,  strong,  very 
fine,  even,  and  lustrous  thread.  These  properties  of  the 
silk  were  found  realized  in  the  highest  degree  in  the  speci¬ 
mens  transmitted  from  France,  in  which  country  the  de- 
velopement  of  the  silkworm  has  for  a  long  period  exercised 
the  care  and  pains  of  many  able  silkworm-breeders,  and  of 
late  years  has  been  the  object  of  systematic  advancement  by 
the  Central  Society  of  Sericiculture  of  France. 

Much  skill  is  exercised — I  wish  I  could  add  without 
cruelty — in  the  art  of  killing  the  pupa  and  extracting  it 
from  the  cocoon,  and  in  preparing  the  latter  for  unwinding 
the  delicate  thread ;  heat  being  the  agent  of  destruction  in 
most  of  the  processes,  as  it  seems  ‘to  have  been  in  the  re¬ 
motest  historic  times  in  China.  The  method  there  employ¬ 
ed,  according  to  the  old  French  missionaries  in  China,  is  as 
follows  : — “  The  extremities  of  the  cocoon  are  first  cut  off 
with  a  pair  of  scissors;  they  are  then  put  in  a  canvass  bag 
and  immersed  for  an  hour  or  more  in  a  kettle  of  boiling  lye, 
which  dissolves  the  gum.  When  this  is  effected,  they  are 
taken  from  the  kettle,  are  pressed  to  expel  the  lye,  and  are 
left  till  the  next  morning  to  dry.  Whilst  they  are  still 
moist  the  chrysalis  is  extracted  from  each  cocoon,  which  is 
then  turned  inside  out  to  make  a  sort  of  cowl.  They  are 
then  easily  wound  into  thread.” 


82 


ON  THE  RAW  MATERIALS 


An  accomplished  author,  who  has  celebrated  the  Great 
Exhibition  in  a  worlc  full  of  apt  and  striking  allusions, 
beautifully  apostrophizes  the  “  wondrous  worm,  self-shrouded 
in  thy  silken  tomb!  Anon  to  emerge  in  brighter  form,  on 
higher  life  intent;  but  that  stern  man  thy  mystic  trans¬ 
formation  intercepts,  with  fatal  fires,  consuming  tenant  for 
the  sepulchre.”* 

The  results  of  all  the  most  approved  modes  of  rearing 
the  silkworm  and  preparing  the  cocoons  were  exhibited,  and 
might  be  studied  with  advantage,  in  the  Crystal  Palace. 

The  Bornbyx  mori,  having  been  bred  and  reared  under 
the  special  care  and  management  of  man  during  a  long  suc¬ 
cession  of  aces,  may  be  regarded  as  a  domesticated  species 
of  insect;  and  it  has  become  the  subject,  as  in  the  higher 
domesticated  races,  of  varieties,  of  which  those  called  Sina, 

“  Syne,”  and  “Novi,”  in  France,  are  examples. 

The  “  Sina”  variety  of  the  silkworm  is  known  and 
esteemed  for  the  pure  whiteness  of  its  silk,  the  thread  of 
which  is  fine,  but  weak,  and  not  very  lustrous.  The 
“  Syrie”  variety  is  of  large  size,  produces  a  cocoon  abundant 
in  silk,  but  the  thread  is  rather  coarse,  and  inclines  to  a 
oreenish  tint.  The  “Novi”  race  is  small,  but  the  cocoons 
are  firm  and  well  made,  and  the  silk  has  a  yellowish  tint. 

The  specimens  of  cocoons  and  raw  silk  exhibited  in  the 
French  department  were  numerous, .  and  the  degrees  of 
excellence  hardly  to  be  discriminated  in  the  finest  examples 
selected  for  the  award  of  the  prize  medal.  With  regard  to 
the  superior  quality  of  these  raw  silks  and  cocoons,  the 
Jury,  by  their  recommendation  of  the  award  of  the  Council 
medal  to  the  “Central  Society  of  Sericiculture  of  France,” 
desired  to  testify  their  admiration  of  the  specimens  exhibited 
by  many  members  of  that  Society,  and  their  appreciation 
of  the  important  influence  which  it  has  exercised  in  the 
improvement  of  this  beautiful  and  valuable  product  of  the 
animal  kingdom. 

The  Jury,  however,  justly  gave  the  honour  of  their  first 
notice  to  the  beautiful  specimens  shown  under  No.  782,  by 
Major  Count  de  Bronno  Bronski,  exhibitor  of  unbleached 
silk  and  silk  cocoons  from  the  Chateau  de  St.  Selves,  near 

*  “The  Lily  and  the  Bee,”  by  Samuel  Warren,  F.R.S.,  p.  92. 


FROM  THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM. 


83 


Bordeaux,  Department  de  la  Gironde.  The  cocoons  were 
remarkable  for  their  large  size  and  regularity  of  form,  and 
the  silk  for  the  unusual  length  of  the  thread,  its  natural 
pure  white  colour,  its  fineness  and  lustre.  The  circum¬ 
stances  under  which  this  superior  quality  of  silk  was 
obtained  are  certified  in  a  report  by  a  Committee  of  the 
Agricultural  Society  of  the  Gironde,  dated  28th  April,  1847, 
to  be  as  follows: — “In  1836  Major  Bronski  reared  sepa¬ 
rately  the  eggs  of  the  three  varieties,  ‘  Sina,’  ‘  Syne/  and 
‘Novi/  In  1837  he  set  apart  the  cocoons  of  the  varieties 
‘Syrie’  and  ‘Novi/  and  on  the  exclusion  of  the  imago,  or 
perfect  insect,  he  associated  the  males  of  the  ‘Novi’  with 
the  females  of  the  ‘  Syrie  ;’  and  the  hybrid  ova  were  hatched 
at  the  ordinary  period  in  1838,  the  operations  being  re¬ 
peated  in  1839  and  1840.  With  regard  to  the  race  ‘  Sina/ 
M.  Bronski,  in  1837,  separated  the  white  from  the  black 
worms  as  soon  as  they  were  hatched.  He  then  selected  the 
largest  and  best-shaped  cocoons,  and  made  a  special  collec¬ 
tion  of  the  eggs  from  the  moths  excluded  from  those  cocoons. 
This  procedure  was  repeated  in  1838  and  1839;  but  in 
1840  he  associated  the  males  excluded  from  the  large  cocoons 
of  the  black  worms  with  the  females  excluded  from  those 
of  the  white  worms.  In  1841  he  associated  the  males  of 
the  ‘  Sina’  race  with  the  hybrid  females  obtained  from  the 
above-described  crossings  of  ‘  Novi’  and  ‘  Syrie’  breeds.” 
By  these  and  similar  experiments  M.  Bronski  at  length 
appears  to  have  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  race  of  silkworms 
not  subject  to  disease,  producing  large  and  equal-sized 
cocoons  of  a  pure  white  colour,  the  siik  of  which  was  equal 
in  all  its  length,  strong  and  lustrous,  and  presenting  an 
average  length  of  thread  of  1057  metres. 

Very  beautiful  examples  of  raw  silk  were  also  transmitted 
from  different  parts  of  Italy;  and  amongst  the  Italian  silks 
the  first  mention  was  due  to  those  exhibited  in  Tuscany, 
which  showed  well  all  the  desirable  qualities  of  the  cocoons 
and  thread.  From  these  the  Jury  selected  for  the  award 
of  the  prize  medal  No.  51,  exhibited  by  Professor  Savi,  of 
Pisa,  for  the  specimens  of  raw  silk  from  silkworms  fed  upon 
leaves  of  the  Philippine  mulberry.  In  the  department  of 
Sardinia  the  Jury  selected  as  deserving,  for  their  excellent 
qualities,  the  prize  medal,  the  silks  exhibited  by  Messrs. 


i 


84 


ON  THE  RAW  MATERIALS 


H.  Jacquet  and  Co.,  Messrs.  Casissa  and  Sons,  and  Messrs, 
llignon  and  Co. 

Many  of  the  silks  exhibited  in  the  department  of  Turkey 
were  of  a  very  fine  character,  exhibiting  a  good  length  of 
thread,  with  the  qualities  of  fineness,  strength,  elasticity, 
and  lustre.  The  Jury  had  great  pleasure  in  awarding  the 
prize  medal  to  the  School  of  Sericiculture  at  Broussa,  as 
well  as  to  some  private  exhibitors  from  Turkey. 

Very  fine  examples  of  silk  were  shown  in  the  Indian  de¬ 
partment,  from  which  the  Jury  selected,  as  meriting  the 
prize  medal,  the  following: — D.  Jardine,  of  Calcutta;  Wat¬ 
son,  of  Surdah,  Bengal;  Mackenzie  "Brothers,  of  Bengal; 
Jennings,  of  Commercolly;  W.  M’Nair,  of  Surdah,  Bengal. 
Besides  the  silk  from  the  ordinary  silkworm  ( Bombyx 
mori),  called  in  India  pat,  specimens  of  stronger  and  coarser 
kinds  of  silk  were  shown,  from  the  ftzssu, r-moth  ( Saturnia 
mylitta ),  which  feeds  on  the  leaves  of  the  terminalia  ca- 
tappa  and  zizyplius  jvjuba.  The  cloth  woven  from  this 
silk  is  called  “  tussur-cloth,”  and  is  made  at  Midnapore. 
The  moonga-silk  is  from  the  Bombyx  saturnia,  which  feeds 
upon  the  same  trees  as  the  tussur.  A  piece  of  moonga-silk 
cloth,  made  in  Assam,  was  exhibited.  The  Plialcena  cyn- 
thia  produces  the  eri  silk.  This  species  feeds  upon  the 
■ricinus  communis.  The  eri  cloth  is  also  woven  at  Assam. 
It  is  observed  in  India,  that  the  pat,  or  true  silk,  from 
larvae  of  the  Bombyx  mori  fed  on  mulberry-trees  grown  in 
a  strong  clay  soil,  is  generally  better,  the  cocoons  being 
larger  and  of  better  colour. 

In  the  Chinese  department  the  quality  of  the  silk 
developed  in  the  native  country  of  the  silkworm  was  worthily 
illustrated  by  the  specimens  exhibited  by  Yun-kee,  of 
Shang-hae;  to  whom  the  Jury,  therefore,  adjudged  the 
prize  medal. 

I  must  not  quit  the  subject  of  silk  without,  finally, 
offering  a  tribute  of  praise  to  specimens  of  silk,  from  silk¬ 
worms,  reared  on  leaves  of  the  white  mulberry,  at  Godai¬ 
ming,  Surrey,  and  exhibited  by  Mrs.  Catherine  Dodge, 
which,  considering  the  unfavourable  conditions  of  climate, 
showed  qualities  that  deservedly  elicited  the  award  of 
Honourable  Mention  from  our  Jury. 


FROM  THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM. 


85 


Feathers  and  Down. 

The  most  beautiful,  the  most  complex,  and  the  most 
highly-elaborated  of  all  the  coverings  of  animals,  due  to  de- 
velopements  of  the  epidermal  system,  is  the  plumage  of 
birds.  Well  might  the  eloquent  Paley  say,  —  “Every 
feather  is  a  mechanical  wonder;  their  disposition,  all  in¬ 
clined  backward,  the  down  about  the  stem,  the  overlapping 
of  their  tips,  their  different  configuration  in  different  parts, 
not  to  mention  the  variety  of  their  colours,  constitute  a 
vestment  for  the  body,  so  beautiful,  and  so  appropriate  to 
the  life  which  the  animal  has  to  lead,  as  that,  I  think,  we 
should  have  had  no  conception  of  anything  equally  perfect, 
if  we  had  never  seen  it,  or  can  now  imagine  anything  more 
so.” 

A  feather  consists  of  the  “  quill,”  the  “  shaft,”  and 
the  “  vane  :”  the  vane  consists  of  “  barbs”  and  “  bar- 
bules.” 

The  quill  is  pierced  by  a  lower  and  an  upper  orifice,  and 
contains  a  series  of  light,  dry,  conical  capsules,  fitted  one 
upon  another,  and  united  together  by  a  central  pedicle. 

The  shaft  is  slightly  bent ;  the  concave  side  is  divided 
into  two  surfaces  by  a  middle  longitudinal  line  continued 
from  the  upper  orifice  of  the  quill,  the  convex  side  is 
smooth.  Both  sides  are  covered  with  a  horny  material, 
similar  to  that  of  the  quill;  and  they  enclose  a  peculiar 
white,  soft,  elastic  substance,  called  the  “  pith.” 

The  barbs  are  attached  to  the  sides  of  the  shaft,  and  con¬ 
sist  of  plates,  arranged  with  their  flat  sides  towards  each 
other,  and  their  margins  in  the  direction  of  the  convex  and 
concave  sides  of  the  feather;  consequently  they  present 
considerable  resistance  to  being  bent  out  of  their  plane, 
although  readily  yielding  to  any  force  acting  upon  them  in 
the  direction  of  the  line  of  the  stem. 

The  barbules  are  given  off  from  either  side  of  the  barbs,  . 
and  are  sometimes  similarly  barbed  themselves,  as  may  be 
seen  in  the  barbules  of  the  long  feathers  of  the  peacock’s 
tail. 

The  barbules  are  commonly  short  and  close-set-,  and 
curved  in  contrary  directions,  so  that  two  adjoining  series 
8 


ON  THE  RAW  MATERIALS 


8G 

of  barbules  interlock  together,  and  form  the  mechanism  by 
which  the  barbs  are  compacted  into  the  close  and  resisting 
vane  of  the  quill,  or  “feather,”  properly  so  called.  When 
the  barbules  are  long  and  loose,  they  characterize  that  form 
of  the  feather  which  is  properly  called  a  “plume:”  and 
such  are  the  most  valuable  products  of  the  plumage  of 
birds  in  a  commercial  point  of  vietv ;  as,  e.  g.  the  plumes 
of  the  ostrich. 

The  lower  barbs  in  every  kind  of  feather  are  usually 
loose,  forming  the  down,  which  is  increased,  in  most  birds, 
by  what  is  called  the  “accessory  plume.”  This  is  usually 
a  small  downy  tuft,  but  varies  in  different  species,  and  even 
in  the  feathers  of  different  parts  of  the  body  of  the  same 
bird.  The  value  of  feathers,  for  bed-stuffing,  depends  upon 
the  proportion  of  loose  soft  down  that  enters  into  their  com¬ 
position  ;  and,  as  the  “  accessory  plume”  in  the  body- 
feathers  of  the  swans,  geese,  and  ducks,  is  almost  as  long 
as  the  feather  from  which  it  springs,  hence  arises  the  com¬ 
mercial  value  of  the  feathers  of  these  aquatic  birds. 

In  the  developement  of  plumage,  the  first  covering  of  the 
bird  is  a  temporary  one,  consisting  of  bundles  of  long, 
loosely-barbed  filaments,  which  diverge  from  a  small  quill, 
and  on  their  first  appearance  are  enveloped  in  a  thin  sheath, 
which  soon  crumbles  away  after  being  exposed  to  the  atmo¬ 
sphere.*  These  down-feathers  are  succeeded  by  the  true 
feathers ;  to  which  they  bear  the  same  relation  as  wool  does 
to  hair,  or  the  temporary  to  the  permanent  teeth.  In  most 
birds  a  certain  proportion  of  the  down-feathers  is  retained 
with  the  true  feathers,  and  this  proportion  is  usually  great¬ 
est  in  the  aquatic  birds.  It  is  most  remarkable  in  the  eider- 
duck  {Anas  mollissima)  )  which  maybe  compared  with  the 
sheep  in  regard  to  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the  softer 
and  warmer  kind  of  the  epidermal  covering.  The  down  of 
the  cider  combines  with  its  peculiar  softness,  fineness,  and 
lightness,  so  great  a  degree  of  elasticity,  that  the  quantity 
of  this  beautiful  material  which  might  be  compressed  and 
concealed  between  the  two  hands  of  a  man  will  serve  to  stuff 
the  coverlet  of  a  bed. 

*  A  good  account  of  the  mode. of  formation  of  feathers  is  given 
m  a  paper  by  M.  F.  Cuvier,  entitled,  “Sur  le  developpeinent  des 
Plumes,”  in  the  “  Mdmoires  du  Mus6um.”  tom.  x.  10  ;  or  the  arti¬ 
cle  “  Aves,”  in  the  “Cyclopedia  of  Anatomy,”  may  be  consulted. 


PROM  THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM. 


87 


Al]  the  varieties  and  modifications  of  the  plumage  of 
birds,  serviceable  in  manufactures,  or  valued  as  ornaments, 
might  be  compared  and  studied  with  advantage  in  the  Great 
Exhibition. 

An  instructive  and  comprehensive  collection  of  feathers 
and  down,  in  different  states  of  preparation  for  bed-stuffing, 
including  English  goose  feathers,  Irish  goose  and  mixed 
feathers,  Dantzig  feathers,  Russian  goose  feathers,  and 
mixed  duck  feathers,  Hudson’s  Bay  goose  and  duck  feathers, 
Russian  down  and  Greenland  eider-down,  were  exhibited  by 
Messrs.  Heal  and  Son.  Messrs.  W.  and  C.  Nightingale 
likewise  exhibited  an  illustrative  collection  of  feathers  and 
down,  showing  the  effects  of  their  mode  of  purifying  fea¬ 
thers  by  steam,  without  the  use  of  sulphurous  gas. 

In  the  Russian  department  good  specimens  of  white  Be- 
jetsk  bed-feathers,  gray  feathers,  and  goose-down,  were  ex¬ 
hibited  by  J.  Lapshin  (No.  145),  of  Petersburg.  Madame 
Ladighin,  of  Tamboff,  transmitted  a  fine  quality  of  down 
from  the  breast  of  the  goose ;  together  with  articles  made 
of  goose-down. 

In  the  Indian  department  were  shown  white  and  black 
ostrich  plumes ;  but  these  had  been  imported  from  Aden. 
If  the  ostrich  ever  steps  into  Asia,  it  is  only  a  little  way 
into  the  Arabian  side  of  the  Isthmus  of  Suez:  the  Struthio 
camelus  belongs  to  a  peculiarly  African  genus  of  the  great 
wingless  birds.  Tippets,  victorines,  and  boas,  made  from 
the  down  of  the  young  adjutant-crane  ( Ciconia  argala) 
wrere  exhibited  from  Commercolly ;  and  also  beautiful  white 
feathers,  of  a  smaller  species  of  crane,  from  Arrahan.  With 
regard  to  the  application  of  quill-feathers  as  instruments  for 
writing,  I  have  nothing  to  say  :  the  specimens  illustrating 
that  application  having  been  placed,  with  other  articles  of 
stationery,  under  the  inspection  of  another  jury. 

Horns  and  Antlers. 

I  next  proceed  to  notice  a  class  of  raw  materials  from  the 
animal  kingdom  extensively  and  variously  exemplified  in 
the  Great  Exhibition,  most  commonly  used  in  the  manu¬ 
facture  of  implements,  and  known  by  the  general  name  of 
“  horns. ”  In  common  parlance  any  hard  body  projecting 


88 


ON  THE  RAW  MATERIALS 


from  the  head,  terminating  in  a  free,  unopposed  point,  and 
serviceable  as  a  weapon,  is  called  a  “  horn  such  as  the 
canine  tusks  which  curve  upwards  and  backwards  through 
the  skin  of  the  head  of  the  babyroussa,  the  larger  incisive 
tusks  of  the  elephant,  and  the  long,  straight,  spirally-twisted 
tusk  of  the  narwhal,  which  figures  as  the  horn  of  the 
heraldic  unicorn. 

Even  the  weapons  to  which  the  term  u  horn”  is  properly 
or  technically  applied  consist  of  very  different  substances, 
and  belong  to  two  organic  systems  as  distinct  from  each 
other,  as  both  are  from  the  teeth.  Thus  the  horns  of  deer 
consist  of  bone,  and  are  processes  of  the  frontal  bone ; 
those  of  the  giraffe  are  independent  bones,  or  “  epiphyses, ” 
covered  by  hairy  skin ;  those  of  oxen,  sheep,  and  antelopes, 
are  “apophyses”  of  the  frontal  bone,  covered  by  the  corium, 
and  by  a  sheath  of  true  horny  material  ;  those  of  the  Dicrci- 
nocerus  (or  pronghorned  antelope)  consist,  at  their  base,  of 
bony  processes  covered  by  hairy  skin,  and  are  covered  by 
horny  sheaths  in  the  rest  of  their  extent;  they  thus  combine' 
the  characters  of  those  of  the  giraffe  and  ordinary  antelope, 
together  with  the  expanded  and  branched  forms  of  the  antlers 
of  deer.  Only  the  horns  of  the  rhinoceros  are  composed 
wholly  of  horny  matter,  and  this  is  disposed  in  longitudinal 
fibres,  so  that  the  horn  seems  rather  to  consist  of  coarse 
bristles  compactly  matted  together  in  the  form  of  a  more  or 
less  elongated,  subcompressed  cone. 

The  Indian  and  the  Javanese  rhinoceroses  have  a  single 
horn;  the  Sumatran  and  African  rhinoceroses  have  two 
horns ;  these,  however,  do  not  form  a  symmetrical  pair,  but 
are  placed  one  behind  the  other.  The  anterior  is  supported 
upon  a  rough  tract  of  the  anchylosed  nasal  bones;  it  is 
always  the  longest,  and  this  difference  is  considerable  in  the 
JRh.  simus,  in  which  it  is  straight  and  inclines  forwards. 
The  posterior  horn,  which  is  always  the  smallest  in  the  two¬ 
horned  rhinoceroses,  is  the  one  which  is  absent  in  the  one¬ 
horned  species.  The  horn  in  these  is  placed  nearer  the  end 
of  the  nose  in  the  old  than  in  the  young  animal ;  and  this 
change  of  position  is  effected  by  an  order  of  growth  analogous 
to  that  of  the  adductor  muscle  of  the  oyster,  viz.,  by  the 
addition  of  new  fibres  to  the  fore  part  of  the  horn  in  greater 


FROM  THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM.  89 

proportion  than  to  the  hind  part,  where  they  may  he  ob¬ 
served  to  be  always  in  a  state  of  decay. 

The  horns  of  the  ruminants  are  always  symmetrically 
disposed,  and  usually  in  a  single  pair;  very  rarely,  as  in 
the  four-horned  antelope  (. Antilope  quadricornis ),  and  in 
the  great  extinct  Sivathere  and  Bramathere,  in  two  pairs. 
In  the  ox,  sheep,  goat,-  and  antelope  tribes  the  herns  are 
always  supported  by  processes  of  the  frontal  bones  into 
which  (save  in  some  Antilopidce,  e.  g.  Cervicapra,  Dorcas ) 
the  frontal  sinuses  are  continued.  A  thin  vascular  layer  of 
the  corium  is  co-cntendcd  with  the  periosteum  of  the  bone- 
process,  or  “core,”  and  secretes  the  true  horn,  or  “ sheath.” 
Horns  of  this  type  are  never  shed,  and  the  Ruminantia, 
that  possess  them  are  termed  “ cavicornia,”  or  “hollow- 
horned.” 

Such  horns  are  usually  simple  and  conical,  though  they 
may  be  straight,  curved,  bent,  hooked,  or  spirally  twisted; 
only  one  existing  species  ( Antilope  ( dicranoceros )  furcifer) 
has  them  flattened,  expanded,  and  bifurcate,  like  the  great 
posterior  horns  of  the  extinct  Si-vatherium.  Such  compound 
horns  are  developed  in  both  sexes  in  the  JBovidce,  the  Ovidce , 
in  all  goats,  and  many  antelopes,  as,  e.  g.  the  caama  ( buhalis ), 
the  goral  (kernes),  the  mar  ( 'capricornis ),  the  chamois  ( rupi - 
capra),  the  gazelle,  and  the  oryx  ;  but  they  are  mostly 
larger  in  the  males ;  they  are  not  developed  in  the  females 
of  the  Saiga  and  other  species  of  Antilope  proper,  in  the 
prong-horned  antelope,  the  chiara  ( 'tetraceros ),  the  madoqua 
(Ant.  montana),  the  duyker-bok  ( 'sylvicapra ),  the  bosh-bok 
(tragelaphus) ,  and  the  strepsieeros  (calliope). 

Sometimes  the  horns  are  smooth  and  polished,  sometimes 
longitudinally  grooved;  more  commonly  they  are  trans¬ 
versely  ridged  or  “  annulate.”  It  is  commonly  believed 
that  the  horns  of  the  ox  acquire  an  additional  ring  every 
year  after  the  third ;  but  the  addition  of  annuli  is  far  from 
being  annual  in  other  species :  many  rings  are  gained  in 
one  year’s  growth  of  the  ram’s  horns,  and  in  those  of  the 
ring-horned  antelope  (Ant.  cervicapra).  The  first  formed 
horny  sheath  of  the  Cavicornia  is  commonly  obtuse,  thicker, 
and  of  a  coarser  texture,  than  that  which  is  formed  later; 
but  it  is  equally  extravascular,  and  is  merely  displaced  and 
shed  piecemeal  by  the  formation  of  new  horn-fibres  beneath 
8* 


90 


ON  THE  RAW  MATERIALS 


it,  like  other  layers  of  epidermal  substance.  The  more  com¬ 
pact  horny  matter  developed  at  the  period  of  maturity,  and 
the  use  to  which  the  horns  are  then  more  habitually  and 
forcibly  put,  gives  their  points  a  sharpness  and  compactness 
very  different  from  the  first  formed  substance.  In  the  young 
oryx  it  is  bent  backwards  before  it  is  cast  off,  but  the  bony 
core  does  not  partake  of  this  form. 

The  horns  of  deer,  which  consist  wholly  of  bone,  are  pro¬ 
perly  called  “antlers.”  They  are  covered  by  periosteum, 
and  this  by  a  soft  vascular  tegument  technically  termed  the 
“  velvet,”  during  the  progress  of  their  growth.  This  once 
completed,  the  vessels  shrink,  the  supply  of  blood  is  stopped, 
the  integument  of  the  antler  dries  and  becomes  detached, 
leaving  the  dense  bony  part  as  an  insensible  weapon.  As 
this  part  loses  its  vitality,  the  absorbents  proceed  to  sap  its 
base,  and  at  a  certain  season  of  the  year  the  antlers  are  shed, 
after  which  the  growth  of  another  pair  soon  begins. 

Thus  the  antlers  of  the  deer  tribe  are  shed  and  renewed 
annually,  like  the  hair;  and  the  antlers  increase  in  size  and 
in  the  number  of  the  branches,  until  the  animal  has  attained 
its  full  maturity  and  strength.  The  red  deer,  at  this  period, 
will  develope,  in  the  course  of  about  ten  weeks,  a  pair  of 
antlers  weighing  about  twenty-four  pounds.  But  the  great 
extinct  Irish  deer  ( Megaceros  Hibernians )  must  have  thrown 
out  of  its  circulating  system  in  the  course  of  a  few  months 
between  seventy  and  eighty  pounds  weight  of  osseous  sub¬ 
stance. 

The  antlers  of  all  the  deer  tribe  have  the  same  chemical 
and  physical  qualities  as  true  bone;  and  the  same  chemical 
products,  e.  <j.  phosphorus  and  ammonia,  may  be  obtained 
from  them.  The  common  term  “hartshorn”  indicates  the 
former  exclusive  use  of  the  antlers  as  the  source  from  which 
ammonia  was  obtained.  The  density  of  the  texture  of  the 
antler  gives  it  value  and  utility  for  the  purposes  of  cutlery, 
and  for  weapons  and  ornaments  of  various  kinds. 

Numerous  fine  and  illustrative  specimens  of  horns  and 
antlers  were  transmitted  to  the  Great  Exhibition,  amongst 
which  the  collection  in  the  Indian  department  merits  the 
first  notice  for  the  number  and  variety  of  the  examples. 
There  were  shown  the  dense  antlers  of  the  Cervus  Aristo- 
telis;  of  the  bara  sinha  ( Cervus  JJuoaucellii) ;  of  the  sam- 


FROM  THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM. 


91 


ber  ( Cervus  hippelaplms) ;  of  the  kaher,  or  barking  deer 
( Cervus  vaginalis,  Boddaert) ;  of  the  axis  ( Cervus  macu~ 
latus) ;  of  the  mar  ( Capricornis  bubalind );  and  of  hog- 
deer  ( Cervus  porcinus)  ;  there  also  might  be  seen  noble 
specimens  of  the  horns  of  the  gour  (Bos  cavifrons) ,  and  of 
the  great  Arne  buffalo  (Bos  ( bubalus )  Araa). 

In  Canada  were  shown  fine  examples  of  the  palmated 
antlers  of  the  great  moose  or  elk  (Alces  Americana ) ;  and 
both  Egypt  and  the  Cape  contributed  specimens  *  of  the 
horns  of  the  rhinoceros,  the  buffalo,  and  of  various  ante¬ 
lopes. 

It  did  not  appear  that  any  of  the  specimens  of  horns  ex¬ 
hibited  improvements  of  size  or  texture,  as  the  consequence 
of  modifications  in  the  food  or  habits  of  the  species,  super¬ 
induced  to  that  end  by  the  art  of  man.  The  functions  of 
the  Jury,  therefore,  in  judging  between  degrees  of  excellence 
as  the  consequence  of  human  ingenuity  and  skill  found  no 
exercise  in  regard  to  the  present  class  of  raw  materials. 

Ivory. 

The  same  considerations  necessarily  limited  the  functions 
of  our  Jury  in  regard  to  the  tusks  of  animals  presenting  the 
modification  of  dental  substance  to  which  the  term  “ivory” 
is  applied.  Fine  ivory,  distinguished  by  the  decussating 
curved  lines  on  the  surfaces  of  transverse  fractures  or  sec¬ 
tions  of  the  tusk,  is  peculiar  to  the  African  and  Asiatic 
elephants,  amongst  existing  quadrupeds,  and  the  best  is 
obtained  from  the  wild  individuals;  domestication  of  the 
elephant,  in  India  at  least,  having  been  attended  usually  by 
deterioration  of  the  length  and  quality  of  the  tusks. 

The  finest  specimens  of  elephant’s  tusks  sent  to  the 
Great  Exhibition  were  a  pair  weighing  325  pounds,  from 
the  Elephas  Africanus,  obtained  from  an  animal  killed  near 
the  newly  discovered  Lake  Ngami,  in  South  Africa;  each 
tusk  measured  eight  feet  six  iuches  in  length,  and  twenty- 
two  inches  in  basal  circumference.  A  single  tusk,  weigh¬ 
ing  110  pounds,  from  the  same  locality,  was  associated  with 
them.  These  specimens  were  exhibited  by  Mr.  Joseph 
Cawood. 

Messrs.  Fauntleroy  and  Sons  exhibited  an  instructive 


92 


ON  THE  RAW  MATERIALS 


collection  of  elephants’  tusks  in  No.  135.  The  largest  of 
these  was  also  from  the  African  elephant,  and  weighed  139 
pounds.  Varieties  of  tusks  were  exhibited  from  the  Gold 
Coast,  the  Gaboon  River,  Zanzibar,  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
Angola,  Alexandria,  Ceylon,  and  the  East  Indies.  Of  the 
tusks  which  possess  a  dense  texture,  but  have  not  the  eugine- 
turn  markings  of  true  ivory,  Messrs.  Fauntleroy  exhibit 
those  of  the  narwhal,  the  walrus,  and  the  hippopotamus;  and 
the  Jury  regarded  this  instructive  collection  as  deserving 
Honourable  Mention. 

Fine  tusks  of  the  Ceylon  variety  of  elephant  were  shown 
in  the  collection  from  that  island;  and  several  examples 
of  the  continental  Asiatic  kinds  were  exhibited  in  the 
Indian  departments ;  amongst  the  tusks  of  the  Siamese 
elephants  was  one  which  weighed  100  pounds,  and  showed 
a  fine  white  compact  kind  of  ivory. 

Tortoise-shell. 

Of  the  modifications  of  epidermal  productions,  commonly 
called  tortoise-shell,  almost  every  variety  might  be  studied 
in  the  wonderful  collection  of  the  works  of  nature  and  of 
art  which  has  made  the  present  year  ever  memorable. 

The  substance  called  tortoise-shell  consists  of  certain 
large  horn-like  epidermoid  plates,  which  cover  in  an  imbri¬ 
cated  or  overlapping  manner  the  carapace,  or  back  shell  of 
the  marine  tortoises  or  turtles  ( Chelone ).  The  species 
which  afford  the  most  valuable  of  these  plates  are  the  Karet 
tortoises  or  imbricated  turtles  ( Chelone  imbricata,  Chelone 
Caretta ),  from  which  are  obtained  five  large  plates  from  the 
middle  of  the  carapace,  and  four  large  ones  from  each  side ; 
these  plates,  thirteen  in  number,  are  technically  called 
“  blades ;”  twenty-five  smaller  plates  are  obtained  from  the 
margin  of  the  carapace,  which  are  called  the  “feet”  or 
“noses,”  in  commerce.  The  other  plates  collectively  are 
called  the  “head”  of  the  turtle. 

Pearl,  Nacre,  Shell. 

A  still  more  beautiful  and  precious  animal  product  is  that 


FROM  THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM.  93 

which,  in  all  ages,  has  been  classed  as  an  ornament  amongst 
the  jewels  or  precious  stones, — I  allude  to  Pearls. 

These  valuable  substances  are  the  result  of  an  excretion 
in  superimposed  concentric  laminae  of  a  peculiarly  fine  and 
dense  nacreous  substance,  which  consists  of  membrane  and 
carbonate  of  lime.  The  finest  quality  of  pearl  is  produced 
by  the  bivalve  of  the  Indian  Seas,  called,  par  excellence , 
the  “  pearl  oyster”  (. Meleagrina  margaritifera^),  fine  speci¬ 
mens  of  which  were  exhibited  in  the  Indian  and  Ceylon  col¬ 
lections.  The  finest  pearls  are  found  at  Ceylon. 

Pearls  of  an  inferior  description,  formed  in  a  fresh-water 
bivalve  (  Unto  margaritifera'),  were  exhibited  under  No.  15, 
Class  I.,  by  Mr.  John  Nelis,  of  Omagh,  county  Tyrone, 
from  specimens  obtained  from  the  deepest  parts  of  the  river 
Strule,  near  Omagh.  Similar  pearls,  also  found  in  the  Unio 
margaritifera,  from  the  river  Ythan,  Aberdeenshire,  were 
shown  under  No.  16,  Class  I.,  by  Messrs.  Corvie  and  Rae, 
of  Ellon,  Scotlaud.  It  is  probable  that  the  pearls  from  this 
source,  collected  by  the  ancient  Britons,  may  have  given 
rise  to  the  statement  by  Tacitus,  in  his  “Life  of  Agricola,” 
of  pearls  “not  very  orient,  but  pale  and  wan,”  being  among 
the  indigenous  products  of  Great  Britain.  Pearls,  similar 
to  those  from  the  Unio  margaritifera,  were  exhibited  under 
No.  41,  Sweden  and  Norway,  by  Mr.  Torstrup,  from  Chris¬ 
tiana. 

The  smaller  kind  of  pearl,  called  “seed-pearl,”  is  obtained 
at  Kurrachee,  on  the  Bombay  coast.  They  are  of  little 
value,  except  to  those  who  esteem  them  as  medicine,  viz., 
the  Persians  and  some  of  the  Hakeems  of  India.  The 
oysters  producing  “  seed-pearls”  are  washed  up  by  the  surf- 
waves  to  high-water  mark,  and  are  left  there  as  the  tide 
falls.  They  are  gathered  by  Coolies,  employed  for  the 
occasion,  put  into  boats,  and  landed  at  Keeamaree  Point. 
There  the  shells  are  broken,  and  the  pearls  extracted,  under 
the  superintendence  of  the  contractors,  who  now  pay  the 
Julpore  Government  40,000  rupees  per  annum  for  the  pearl- 
contract.  Even  the  gleaners  who  come  after  them  pay  for 
the  right  of  sifting  the  broken  shells  in  search  of  any  pearls 
that  may  remain. 


94 


ON  THE  RAW  MATERIALS 


Mother-of-Pearl,  or  Nacre. 

In  the  Indian  collection  were  shown  most  of  the  sheila 
which  yield  the  manufacturer  the  finest  kind  of  nacre : 
these  are  the  Mdeagrina  margaritifera,  Haliotis  gigas, 
Haliotis  iris,  and  a  large  species  of  Turbo,  which  shells  are 
known  in  commerce  as  flat-shells,  ear-shells,  green  snail- 
shells,  buffalo-shells,  Bombay  shells.  The  mother-of-pearl 
is  the  internal  or  nacreous  layer  of  such  shells.  Dr.  Car¬ 
penter  has  detected  indications  of  a  minute  cellular  structure 
in  the  nacreous  laminae  of  the  Haliotis,  which  he  has  not 
observed  in  the  nacre  of  bivalves.  Fine  specimens  of  some 
of  these  shells  from  Sincapore  and  Manilla,  especially  the 
great  Mdeagrina  and  Haliotis,  were  exhibited  by  Messrs. 
Fauntleroy,  under  No.  135;  and  by  Mr.  Banks,  under 
No.  287,  Class  XXII.,  in  connexion  with  the  manufacture 
of  mother-of-pearl  buttons. 

Cameo-Shells,  Corals. 

Specimens  of  cameo-shells  (Cassis  rufa),  species  of 
Cgprcea,  and  of  shells  used  as  ornaments  by  certain  natives 
of  India,  with  the  rude  but  efficient  instruments  for  cutting 
them,  were  shown  in  the  Indian  collection. 

Shells  adapted  for  cameo  cutting  are  dense,  thick,  and 
consist  of  three  layers  of  differently-coloured  shell-material. 
In  the  Cassis  rufa  each  layer  is  composed  of  many  very 
thin  plates — in  other  words,  is  “laminated” — the  laminae 
being  perpendicular  to  the  plane  of  the  main  layer  :  each 
lamina  consists  of  a  series  of  elongated  prismatic  cells,  ad¬ 
herent  by  their  long  sides.  The  laminae  of  the  outer  and 
inner  layers  are  parallel  to  the  lines  of  growth,  while  those 
of  the  middle  layer  are  at  right  angles  to  them.  In  the 
cowreys  ( Cgpra-a)  there  is  an  additional  layer,  which  is  a 
duplicature  of  the  nacreous  layer  formed  when  the  animal 
has  attained  its  full  growth. 

Descending  now  to  the  lowest  forms  of  animal  life,  and 
those  that  link  the  animal  with  the  vegetable,  I  ought  to 
speak  of  the  nature  and  develop,  inent  of  those  raw  materials 
called  “corals”  and  “sponges,”  which  serve  for  various 
purposes  of  ornament  and  use.  But  the  limits  of  an  even- 


FROM  THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM. 


95 


ing’s  discourse  compel  rue  to  refer  to  the  works  on  Zoology, 
in  which  their  nature  will  be  found  fully  elucidated.  The 
Great  Exhibition  was  rich  in  the  various  calcareous  bases 
or  skeletons  of  the  ramified  and  rooted  marine  zoophytes, 
which  are  sought  after  for  different  economic  applications. 

One  of  the  finest  examples  of  the  red  coral  (  Corallium 
rubrum)  was  exhibited  by  Messrs.  Paravagna  and  Casella, 
under  No.  84,  Class  XXXIII.,  in  connexion  with  cameo- 
work  and  carving  in  coral.  Specimens  of  red  coral  were 
also  exhibited  in  the  collection  from  Algiers.  A  fine  col¬ 
lection  of  both  corals  and  madrepores,  including  the  black 
flexible  coral  ( Gorgonia ),  was  shown  in  the  department  of 
Bermuda. 


Gelatines. 

Such  productions  as  coral,  shell,  and  pearl,  are  naturally 
attractive  by  their  intrinsic  beauty  or  rarity.  But  the  most 
refuse  and  uninviting,  and  seemingly  most  worthless  parts 
of  animal  bodies,  are  turned  to  uses  of  the  most  unexpected 
kind  by  the' inventive  skill  and  science  of  man. 

The  raw  materials  chiefly  used  in  manufactures  derived 
from  the  gelatinous  textures  of  animal  bodies  may  be  divided, 
as  regards  their  commercial  value  and  application,  into  two 
kinds : — 

1st.  The  gelatines  and  glues,  properly  so  called,  derived 
from  the  dissolution  of  certain  animal  tissues,  and  especially 
from  the  waste  residue  of  parts  of  animals  which  have  served 
for  food,  or  for  the  operations  of  tanning,  or  for  the  fabrica¬ 
tion,  as  from  bones,  of  articles  in  imitation  of  ivory,  or  from 
the  waste  particles  in  the  carving  of  ivory  itself. 

2d.  The  cleansed  and  dried  membranes  of  different  species 
of  fish,  more  especially  of  the  sturgeon  family  ( Acipenseridoe ), 
preserving  a  peculiar  texture,  on  which  their  value  in  the 
refining  of  fermenting  liquors  more  especially  depends; — 
such  membranes  arc  called  “  isinglass.” 

The  most  remarkable  progress  in  the  economical  extrac¬ 
tion  and  preparation  of  pure  gelatines  and  glues  from  the 
waste  remnants  of  the  skins,  bones,  tendons,  ligaments,  and 
other  gelatinous  tissues  of  animals,  has  been  made  in  France, 
where  the  well-organized  and  admirably  arranged  establish- 


96 


ON  THE  RAW  MATERIALS 


meats  for  the  slaughter  of  cattle,  sheep,  and  horses  in  large 
towns,  give  great  and  valuable  facilities  for  the  economical 
applications  of  all  the  waste  parts  of  animal  bodies.  Among 
the  beautiful  productions  of  this  industry,  the  specimens 
exhibited  by  its  chief  originator,  M.  L.  F.  Grenet,  under 
No.  247,  merited  peculiar  approbation.  They  included 
different  kinds  of  gelatine  in  thin  layers,  adapted  for  the 
dressing  of  stuffs,  and  for  gelatinous  baths,  in  the  clarifica¬ 
tion  of  wines  which  contain  a  sufficient  quantity  of  tannin 
to  precipitate  the  gelatine;  pure  and  white  gelatines  cut 
into  threads  for  the  use  of  the  confectioner  ;  very  thin  white 
and  transparent  sheets  called  “  papier  glace,”  or  ice-paper, 
for  copying  drawings;  and,  finally,  a  quantity  of  objects  of 
luxury  or  ornaments  formed  of  dyed,  silvered,  or  gilt  gela¬ 
tines,  adapted  to  a  variety  of  purposes,  and  to  the  fabrica¬ 
tion  of  artificial  or  fancy  flowers.  M.  Grenet,  who  was  the 
first  to  fabricate  on  a  large  scale,  out  of  various  residues  of 
animal  bodies  of  little  value,  these  beautiful  and  diversified 
products,  many  of  which  previously  had  been  derived  from 
the  more  costly  substance — isinglass,  was  deemed  by  the 
Jury  to  merit  the  award  of  the  Council  medal. 

Many  manufacturers  in  France  have  risen  to  great  emi¬ 
nence  in  this  line  by  following  the  processes  of  M.  Grenet. 
H.  Castelle,  of  Paris,  exhibited  (No.  107)  a  still  more 
varied  assortment  of  the  modifications  of  gelatine,  amongst 
which  are  particularly  deserving  of  notice  the  very  large 
sheets  of  transparent  gelatine,  colourless,  white,  of  various 
well-defined  colours,  and  embossed  or  stamped  with  elegant 
patterns. 

Isinglass. 

This  raw  material  owes  the  greater  part  of  its  commercial 
value  to  its  special  organization,  w'hich  permits  its  separa¬ 
tion  into  extremely  delicate  fibres,  capable  of  operating 
mechanically  in  the  clarification  of  white  wines  and  malt 
liquors.  In  order  to  obtain  the  best  isinglass,  care  must  be 
taken  to  choose  the  most  suitable  membranes  of  the  proper 
species  of  fish,  and  to  avoid  altering  their  peculiar  tissue  in 
the  process  of  drying  and  preparing  them. 

Under  these  two  relations  the  raw  products  exhibited  in 
the  department  of  Russia  held  the  first  rank.  MM.  Mari- 


FROM  THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM. 


97 


manoff  ancl  Armakoona  (No.  81)  displayed  specimens  of  the 
best  quality  of  isinglass,  consisting  of  the  tissues  of  the 
air-bladders  of  the  species  of  sturgeon  called  Acipcnser  huso, 
well-cleaned,  and  removed  and  dried  without  the  texture 
being  affected.  No.  116,  transmitted  by  an  anonymous 
Russian  exhibitor,  presented  a  variety  of  isinglass  obtained 
from  the  intestinal  membranes  of  the  sturgeon,  in  the  form 
of  elongated  stripes,  made  iuto  bundles.  This  substance, 
like  the  gelatines  from  the  tendons,  bones,  and  hides  of  cattle, 
serves  well  for  different  culinary  purposes,  and  for  the  same 
uses  in  manufactures  as  fine  gelatine  from  other  sources. 

Messrs.  Simpson,  Humphreys,  and  Vickers,  exhibited 
a  rich  variety  of  specimens  of  isinglass  in  the  different  raw 
states  in  which  it  is  imported,  and  in  all  the  states  of  its 
preparation  for  the  applications  for  which  it  is  sold. 

The  greater  part  of  the  gelatinous  products  exhibited  by 
the  English  manufacturers  were  prepared  from  isinglass, 
and  chiefly  applied  to  articles  of  food.  The  commercial 
qualities  of  isinglass  are  instructively  shown  in  the  collec¬ 
tion  exhibited  under  Nos.  117,  118,  and  141.  Some  ex¬ 
hibitors,  however,  showed  excellent  glues  and  gelatines  ob¬ 
tained  from  various  residues  of  animal  bodies,  and  destined 
for  manufacturing  purposes.  M.  Muller  (No.  125a)  trans¬ 
mitted  a  fine  assortment  of  glues  and  gelatines,  analogous 
to  the  products  of  M.  Grenet.  M.  Dufaville  (122)  ex¬ 
hibited  a  beautiful  sample  of  amber-coloured,  transparent 
gelatine,  in  shreds,  called  “  crystalline,”  from  its  glittering 
surface,  and  also  good  filaments  of  isinglass  for  culinary 
purposes. 

Amongst  the  specimens  from  India  there  were  different 
kinds  of  isinglass  in  the  raw  state  from  species  of  fishes 
distinct  from  those  of  Europe  which  commonly  afford  this 
substance.  The  principal  of  these  were  from  a  siluroid  fish, 
the  Polynemus  plcbeius,  the  dried  air-bladders  of  which 
possess  the  fine  fibrous  tunic  which  imparts  the  clarifying 
qualities  that  render  isinglass  so  valuable  in  the  manufac¬ 
ture  of  white  wines  and  beers;  and  they  also  are  well 
adapted  for  the  fabrication  of  fine  gelatines  used  in  manu¬ 
factures  and  confectionary. 


Such,  Sir,  are  some  of  the  numerous  and  diversified 

9 


98  RAW  MATERIALS  FROM  THE  ANIMAL  KINGDOM. 

kinds  of  products  from  the  Animal  Kingdom  which  I  have 
selected  for  the  remarks  I  have  had  the  honour  to  submit  to 
you  this  evening.  To  have  attempted,  in  the  briefest  way,  to 
treat  of  all  of  that  class  which  were  transmitted  to  the  Great 
Exhibition,  would  have  led  me  far  beyond  the  hounds  of  a 
single  discourse. 

Whatever  the  animal  kingdom  can  afford  for  our  food  or 
clothing,  for  our  tools,  weapons,  or  ornaments — whatever 
the  lower  creation  can  contribute  to  our  wants,  our  com¬ 
forts,  our  passions,  or  our  pride,  that  we  sternly  exact  and 
take  at  all  cost  to  the  producers.  No  creature  is  too  bulky 
or  formidable  for  man’s  destructive  energies — none  too 
minute  and  insignificant  for  his  keen  detection  and  skill  of 
capture.  It  was  ordained  from  the  beginning  that  we 
should  be  the  masters  and  subduers  of  all  inferior  animals. 
Let  us  remember,  however,  that  we  ourselves,  like  the 
creatures  we  slay,  subjugate,  and  modify,  are  the  results 
of  the  same  Almighty  creative  will — temporary  sojourners 
here,  and  co-tenants  with  the  worm  and  the  whale  of  one 
small  planet.  In  the  exercise,  therefore,  of  those  superior 
powers  that  have  been  intrusted  to  us,  let  us  ever  bear  in 
mind  that  our  responsibilities  are  heightened  in  proportion. 


LECTURE  IY. 


CHEMICAL  and  PHARMACEUTICAL  PROCESSES 
AND  PRODUCTS. 


BY 

JACOB  BELL,  Esq.  M.P. 


(99) 


V 


JACOB  BELL,  Es«.,  M.P. 


OK 


THE  CHEMICAL  AND  PHARMACEUTICAL 
PROCESSES  AND  PRODUCTS. 


The  subject  which  engages  our  attention  this  evening  is 
the  probable  influence  of  the  Great  Exhibition  on  the  second 
class  of  objects,  namely,  “Chemical  and  Pharmaceutical  Pro¬ 
cesses  and  Products.”  If  these  terms  were  to  be  taken  in 
their  extended  sense,  we  might  include  more  than  half  the 
classes  into  which  the  contents  of  the  Exhibition  have  been 
divided,  as  many  of  these — and  among  them  some  of  the 
most  important  and  interesting — are  indebted  to  the  science 
of  chemistry  for  the  high  position  they  occupy  among  the 
industrial  arts.  But  the  branches  of  industry  to  which  I 
refer,  having  separate  classes  assigned  to  them,  are  foreign 
to  our  present  subject,  except  in  relation  to  the  chemical  pro¬ 
cesses  connected  with  them. 

We  are  restricted  this  evening  chiefly  to  those  objects 
which  are  usually  designated  as  drugs  and  chemicals ;  which, 
however  important  they  may  be  as  a  link  in  the  chain,  are 
not  particularly  calculated  to  attract  or  interest  the  public 
generally.  So  much  was  this  felt  to  be  the  case  at  the  time 
that  the  scheme  of  the  Great  Exhibition  was  first  proposed, 
that  it  was  a  disputed  question  whether  such  articles  were 
suitable  for  admission  into  the  building.  It  had,  however, 
been  determined  by  His  Royal  Highness  Prince  Albert  and 
9  *  (101) 


102  ON  THE  CHEMICAL  AND  PHARMACEUTICAL 

tlie  Royal  Commissioners  that  the  Great  Exhibition  should 
contain  illustrations  in  every  branch  of  commercial  industry; 
it  was  designed  not  merely  to  please  the  eye  and  attract  the 
superficial  observer,  but  to  collect  in  one  building  specimens 
of  every  kind  of  product  and  manufacture  from  all  parts  of 
the  world.  This  comprehensiveness  in  the  undertaking  was 
its  most  remarkable  feature ;  and  in  proportion  as  the  practi¬ 
cal  bearing  of  the  Exhibition  on  each  class  became  more 
generally  understood,  the  early  misgivings  and  prejudices 
were  removed,  and  the  disposition  to  co-operate  increased. 

There  was  still  a  question  on  which  some  difference  of 
opinion  prevailed,  namely,  whether  the  Exhibition  should 
be  confined  to  such  objects  as  possessed  the  merit  of  ori¬ 
ginality,  or  unusual  excellence  or  peculiarity  in  the  manu¬ 
facture,  or  whether  it  should  comprise  ordinary  specimens 
of  products  and  preparations  ?  Among  those  who  fully 
recognised  the  propriety  of  exhibiting  rare  chemicals,  there 
were  some  who  ridiculed  the  idea  of  transferring  to  the 
Exhibition  the  stock  of  a  druggist  or  apothecary,  with  which 
every  one  in  the  profession  is  familiar,  and  which  to  those 
out  of  the  profession  would  possess  no  attraction.  This 
objection,  however,  wras  overruled.  It  was  considered  that 
the  Exhibition  was  addressed  to  the  whole  world,  that  objects 
in  daily  use  in  one  country  might  be  unknown  in  other 
countries,  and  that  the  building  ought  to  contain  a  series  as 
complete  as  possible  of  the  products  and  preparations  em¬ 
ployed  in  each  locality. 

If  all  the  objects  exhibited  had  been  unusually  fine,  and 
many  of  them  such  as  are  rarely  met  with,  they  would  not 
have  conveyed  a  correct  idea  of  the  actual  state  of  commerce 
in  the  several  classes,  for  which  purpose  it  was  necessary  to 
include  such  a  variety  as  to  form  a  fair  average.  The  prin¬ 
ciple,  therefore,  which  was  acted  upon  in  reference  to  chemi¬ 
cal  and  pharmaceutical  productions  was  this :  in  addition  to 
the  specimens  sent  by  individuals  in  competition  with  each 
other,  specimens,  consisting  chiefly  of  raw  materials  and 
indigenous  or  imported  products  of  the  materia  medica, 
were  contributed  by  a  number  of  druggists  in  their  col¬ 
lective  capacity,  to  illustrate  the  state  of  the  drug-market  in 
England,  and  for  comparison  writh  other  specimens  from 
foreign  markets.  From  this  arrangement  it  will  be  seen 


PROCESSES  AND  PRODUCTS. 


103 


that  two  distinct  objects  were  contemplated  in  this  part  of 
the  Exhibition;  first,  the  encouragement  of  improvements, 
by  the  stimulus  of  competition  among  individuals;  and, 
secondly,  the  diffusion  and  extension  of  knowledge  respect¬ 
ing  the  nature,  the  history,  and  in  some  cases  the  origin, 
of  the  various  materials  employed  for  chemical  and  pharma¬ 
ceutical  purposes. 

The  first  of  these  influences  is  applicable  to  exhibitors  in 
all  classes.  It  i3  the  principal  and  primary  object  of  exhi¬ 
bitions  of  this  description  to  excite  emulation  among  indi¬ 
viduals,  and  thus  to  bring  out  improvements  and  discoveries 
for  the  benefit  of  the  public  at  large.  In  order  to  appreciate 
the  impulse  thus  given  to  industry,  it  is  only  necessary  to 
refer  to  the  enormous  outlay  at  which  many  of  the  objects 
were  produced,  and  the  spirited  manner  in  which  the  under¬ 
taking  was  carried  out.  It  was  obvious  that  those  who  en¬ 
joyed  a  high  position  in  their  several  occupations  were 
determined,  if  they  exhibited  at  all,  to  maintain  that  posi¬ 
tion,  and  that  others  were  equally  determined,  if  possible, 
to  eclipse  those  who  had  previously  been  in  advance  of 
them  in  public  estimation.  It  was  an  honourable  trial  of 
skill,  in  which  individual  exertions  were  made  subservient 
to  collective  advantage.  Although  it  was  at  first  supposed 
that  chemistry  and  pharmacy  afforded  very  little  scope  for 
a  public  competition  of  this  kind,  the  result  has  shown  that 
this  was  an  erroneous  impression.  The  large  chemical  manu¬ 
facturers  made  the  most  magnificent  display.  Their  enor¬ 
mous  masses  of  crystals  of  tartaric  and  citric  acid,  the  prus- 
siates  and  chromates  of  potash,  alum,  sulphates  of  copper 
and  iron,  &c.,  stood  forth  as  beacons  to  attract  the  eye  to 
the  spot  where  other  chemicals  less  conspicuous,  though  no 
less  important,  wmre  exhibited.  Many  of  the  large  groups 
of  crystals  were  remarkable  for  their  fantastic  and  elegant 
forms,  and  gave  evidence  of  a  determination  on  the  part  of 
the  manufacturers  to  prove  that  the  ornamental  as  well  as 
the  useful  comes  within  their  province.  Round  these  groups 
of  crystals  ladies  frequently  assembled,  and  speculated  upon 
the  introduction  of  some  of  the  specimens  as  drawing-room 
ornaments.  If  the  tide  of  fashion  should  set  in  in  that 
direction,  an  additional  impetus  will  be  given  to  industry 
among  the  manufacturing  chemists. 


104  ON  THE  CHEMICAL  AND  PHARMACEUTICAL 

Turning  from  these  gigantic  and  prominent  specimens, 
which  serve  to  show  the  scale  on  which  some  of  our  chemical 
works  are  conducted,  we  have  here  some  single  crystals  ex¬ 
hibited  by  Mr.  Copney,  which  are  interesting  on  account  of 
the  mathematical  accuracy  with  which  the  normal  form  of 
the  crystal  is  preserved.  In  the  groups  before  mentioned 
the  individual  crystals  so  intersect  and  crowd  upon  one 
another  that  no  individual  crystal  is  perfect.  To  attain  this 
latter  object,  a  hot  solution  of  the  salt  is  prepared  and  set 
aside  to  cool :  a  hair  or  thread  is  suspended  in  the  solution 
to  favour  the  deposition  of  single  crystals.  A  perfect  crystal 
having  been  selected  and  detached  from  any  others  which 
may  be  adhering  to  it,  is  replaced  in  the  mother  liquor,  to 
which  from  time  to  time  a  small  portion  of  a  concentrated 
solution  of  the  salt  is  added  to  feed  the  growing  crystal.  If 
the  solution  be  too  strong  groups  of  small  crystals  are 
formed,  which  must  be  removed.  The  crystal  must  be 
turned  every  day,  so  as  to  expose  each  phase  of  it  in  rota¬ 
tion  to  the  same  influence.  This  process  of  turning  and 
feeding  is  continued  regularly  several  months,  or  until  the 
crystal  has  attained  the  size  required.  (Chrome,  alum, 
sulphate  of  copper,  sulphate  of  magnesia,  &c.,  were  on  the 
table.)  I  may  also  advert  to  a  series  of  valerianates  exhi¬ 
bited  by  Mr.  Barnes.  These  compounds  of  valerianic  acid 
are  interesting.  Some  of  them  are  employed  medicinally, 
others  have  not  yet  been  introduced.  In  both  these  in¬ 
stances,  and  in  many  others,  the  Exhibition  has  served  as  a 
stimulus  to  young  men  in  their  application  to  practical  che¬ 
mistry.  The  double  salts  of  iron  and  some  of  the  prepara¬ 
tions  exhibited  by  Messrs.  Hemingway  are  very  well  pre¬ 
pared,  aud  indicate  the  progress  of  pharmaceutical  chemistry. 
I  might  give  numerous  examples  of  improved  processes  in 
pharmacy,  but  this  would  possess  no  general  interest,  and 
would  be  foreign  to  my  present  purpose,  which  is  to  refer  to 
certain  principles,  and  bring  forward  a  few  familiar  examples 
by  way  of  illustration.  For  the  same  reason  I  shall  not 
attempt  to  give  anything  like  a  complete  account  of  the 
choice  chemical  specimens  and  other  interesting  objects 
which  the  Exhibition  contained :  but  I  ought  not  to  omit 
mentioning  in  general  terms  the  very  beautiful  preparations 
of  mercury,  lead,  zinc,  tin,  antimony,  silver,  potash,  soda, 


PROCESSES  AND  PRODUCTS. 


105 


and  iodine ;  also  the  salts  of  morphia,  strychnia,  aconitina, 
vegetable  extracts  and  juices,  among  the  numerous  chemical 
and  pharmaceutical  products  exhibited  by  chemists  whose 
names  are  well  known  as  manufacturers  of  those  articles. 

The  medicinal  plants  exhibited  by  Mr.  Kent  were  so 
remarkably  well  preserved,  that  many  of  them  possessed  all 
the  beauty  of  the  living  plant;  and  in  all  the  specimens, 
the  characteristic  smell  and  other  properties  were  unimpaired. 
Such  a  collection  of  dried  medicinal  plants  was,  I  believe, 
never  before  exhibited.  It  is  probable  that  Mr.  Kent  might 
be  able  to  describe  some  practical  improvements  in  the  de¬ 
tails  of  his  process.  The  precautions  usually  adopted  consist 
in  employing  a  properly  constructed  drying  chamber,  care¬ 
fully  regulating  the  temperature  and  the  supply  of  air,  and 
excluding  the  light. 

The  foreign  collections  contained  many  fine  specimens, 
although  the  British  collection  was  much  more  extensive 
and  complete.  It  is,  however,  only  fair  to  state,  that  some 
of  the  leading  manufacturers  in  France  and  Germany  did 
not  exhibit,  and  that  many  of  the  foreign  productions, 
although  smaller,  were  in  other  respects  quite  equal  to  those 
in  the  British  section.  The  series  of  chemicals  from  Messrs. 
Powers  and  Weightman,  of  Philadelphia,  including  picro- 
toxin,  piperin,  cubebin,  menispermin,  santonin,  several  salts 
of  quinine,  and  other  curious  chemical  products,  deserves 
especial  notice.  In  the  German  and  Austrian  collections 
were  fine  specimens  of  glacial  phosphoric  acid,  phosphorus, 
acetic  acid,  bromine,  prussiate  of  potash,  ultramarine,  and 
many  other  products.  From  Italy  we  had  phloridzine,  san- 
tonine,  ergotine,  quinine,  &c.  Phloridzine  is  a  bitter  prin¬ 
ciple,  obtained  from  the  bark  of  the  root  of  the  pear-tree. 
It  is  not  used  in  England,  but  is  in  high  repute  in  Italy  as 
a  substitute  for  quinine,  to  which  it  is  said  in  some  cases  to 
be  superior.  It  could  easily  be  prepared  in  this  country  if 
a  demand  should  arise. 

In  the  department  of  animal  chemistry,  some  rare  organic 
products  were  exhibited  by  Mr.  Bullock — kreatine,  kreati- 
nine,  urea,  hippuric  acid,  &c.  The  processes  for  obtaining 
animal-  products  of  this  kind  require  some  skill  and  ex¬ 
perience.  The  specimens  were  very  fine.  We  also  had  Mr. 


106  ON  TIIE  CHEMICAL  AND  PHARMACEUTICAL 

Borden’s  meat-biscuit — a  convenient  form  of  animal  food  in 
a  concentrated  and  portable  state. 

The  illustrations  hitherto  given  refer  chiefly  to  chemical 
and  pharmaceutical  products  relating  to  medicine,  1  he  same 
stimulus  operated  with  equal  effect  in  promoting  competition 
in  the  preparation  of  chemicals  used  in  the  arts  and  manu¬ 
factures.  For  example,  ultramarine,  a  pigment,  of  which 
the  only  source  was  formerly  the  lapis  lazuli,  an  expensive 
mineral,  is  now  artificially  prepared  to  a  great  extent.  In 
1814,  Vauquelin  accidentally  discovered  this  product  in 
pulling  down  a  furnace  in  a  soda  factory }  and  from  his 
examination  of  the  substance  he  identified  it  as  ultramarine, 
and  concluded  that  it  might  be  artificially  prepared.  A  re¬ 
ward  was  offered  in  France  for  the  process.  The  composi¬ 
tion  of  the  ultramarine  from  lapis  lazuli  was  known  by 
analysis  to  be  sulphur,  silica,  soda,  and  alumina.  Yet  fora 
long  time  it  was  suspected  that  these  were  not  the  only  con¬ 
stituents.  Traces  of  iron  and  carbonate  of  lime  had  been 
found  in  some  specimens  of  lapis  lazuli}  but  Messrs.  Clement 
and  Desormes  ascertained  that  these  were  accidental  im¬ 
purities.  It  had  long  been  known  that  elements,  when 
chemically  combined,  often  produced  compounds  totally 
different  in  character  from  the  elements ;  yet  the  chemists 
engaged  in  the  investigation  anxiously  sought  for  some 
colouring  principle  which  seemed  to  have  eluded  their  grasp. 
M.  Guinet  solved  the  mystery  in  1828,  by  a  synthetical  ex- 
.periment.  He  combined  the  four  constituents,  and  obtained 
ultramarine ;  Robiquet,  Gmelin,  Persoz,  and  other  chemists, 
afterwards  discovered  the  process.  The  consequence  of  the 
discovery  has  been,  that  ultramarine,  instead  of  being  a  rare 
luxury,  used  only  by  the  most  eminent  artists  for  especial 
purposes,  is  introduced  into  almost  every  branch  of  art  and 
manufacture,  in  which  a  bright  blue  pigment  is  required } 
and  it  may  now  be  obtained  at  a  price  ranging  from  10s.  to 
Is.  3 d.  a  pound.  In  the  Great  Exhibition,  the  specimens 
of  ultramarine,  French,  German,  and  English,  held  so  promi¬ 
nent  a  place,  that  the  Jury  considered  it  requisite  to  obtain 
the  assistance  of  gentlemen  who  had  devoted  especial  atten¬ 
tion  to  this  particular  subject}  and  it  was  no  easy  task  to 
decide  as  to  the  comparative  merits  of  the  very  numerous 
samples  which  the  competition  had  brought  into  the  field. 


PROCESSES  AND  PRODUCTS. 


107 


If  time  permitted,  I  might  refer  to  Longmaid’s  process 
for  treating  ores  and  minerals;  De  Larderel’s  process  for 
obtaining  boracic  acid;  and  Prat  and  Agard’s  improve¬ 
ments  in  the  manufacture  of  salt;  'which,  with  M.  Guinet’s 
ultramarine  process,  constituted  the  four  discoveries  or  in¬ 
ventions  for  which  the  Council  medal  was  awarded.  The 
other  three  processes  do  not  illustrate  the  influence  of  the 
Exhibition  in  promoting  competition,  but  show  the  advan¬ 
tage  of  chemical  discoveries  in  their  application  to  the  arts 
and  manufactures.  Several  specimens  are  on  the  table 
illustrating  the  manufacture  of  iodine  and  alkali  from  kelp. 
They  were  exhibited  by  Mr.  Ward,  county  Donegal,  Ireland. 
The  manufactory  in  which  these  are  produced  is  on  a  very 
large  scale,  and  gives  employment  to  a  great  number  of  per¬ 
sons  in  the  neighbourhood,  showing  the  advantage  of  the 
judicious  application  of  industry  to  a  raw  material  (sea¬ 
weed)  which  otherwise  would  be  wasted. 

An  ingenious  application  of  the  science  of  chemistry  con¬ 
sists  in  the  manufacture  of  artificial  essences  of  pears,  pine¬ 
apples,  and  other  fruits.  A  few  specimens  which  I  have 
received  from  Mr.  Piper,  of  Upper  Winchester  Street,  Pen- 
tpnville,  are  on  the  table.  In  the  concentrated  form  the 
smell  is  rather  acrid,  but  when  diluted,  the  resemblance  to 
the  fruit  is  recognised.  The  best  imitations  are  the  pine¬ 
apple  and  the  jargonelle  pear;  the  grnen  gage,  apricot,  black 
currant,  and  mulberry,  when  properly  mixed,  are  fair  imita¬ 
tions.  They  are  quite  innocuous  in  the  proportions  used, 
namely,  a  drop  or  half  a  drop  to  the  ounce.  I  have  been 
informed  that  some  of  the  ices  furnished  in  the  Great  Exhi¬ 
bition  were  flavoured  with  these  essences.  The  introduction 
of  these  preparations  originated,  I  believe,  in  the  discovery 
of  the  fact,  that  the  peculiar  flavour  of  “  pine-apple  rum” 
was  due  to  butyric  ether,  which  has  since  been  obtained 
from  the  fruit  itself.  Further  experiments  led  to  the  dis¬ 
covery  of  other  artificial  essences. 

The  manufacturers  of  lucifer-matches  are  subject  to  a 
dreadful  disease,  occasioned  by  the  fumes  of  the  phosphorus, 
which  is  one  of  the  ingredients  in  the  manufacture.  Phos 
phorus,  as  you  all  know,  has  a  great  affinity  for  oxygen,  and 
at  the  ordinary  temperature  of  the  air  it  undergoes  a  slow 
combustion,  emitting  fumes  of  phosphoric  and  phosphorous 


108  ON  THE  CHEMICAL  AND  PHARMACEUTICAL 

acids,  which,  if  inhaled,  are  very  deleterious.  By  the  pro¬ 
cess  lately  discovered  by  M.  Schrotter,  an  Austrian  chemist, 
phosphorus  is  reduced  to  a  condition  perfectly  innocuous; 
it  may  be  handled  and  even  reduced  to  fine  powder,  in  which 
state  it  is  equally  serviceable  for  the  purposes  of  the  manu¬ 
facturer.  Messrs.  Sturge,  of  Birmingham,  who  are  the 
proprietors  of  the  patent  and  exhibited  specimens,  exerted 
themselves  to  complete  their  arrangements  for  the  manufac¬ 
ture  on  the  large  scale,  in  order  to  be  in  time  for  the  Exhi¬ 
bition.  The  importance  of  the  discovery  might  have  given 
a  claim  for  the  Council  medal ;  but  the  discoverer,  not 
having  been  the  exhibitor,  was  excluded  by  the  regulations ; 
and  the  exhibitors,  not  having  been  the  discoverers,  could 
only  claim  as  manufacturers. 

Here  is  a  specimen  of  an  improved  method  of  electro¬ 
plating,  the  discovery  of  which  is  claimed  by  Mr.  Lyons,  of 
Birmingham.  By  the  former  process  the  silver  was  depo¬ 
sited  with  a  dull  crystalline  surface,  and  required  brushing 
with  a  wire-brush  and  burnishing  to  make  it  bright;  by  the 
improved  method  the  silver  is  deposited  bright  in  the  first 
instance.  This  is  effected  by  the  addition  of  bisulphuret  of 
carbon  to  the  solution.  Mr.  Lyons  put  in  a  claim  for  a 
prize  as  the  inventor,  and  as  the  question  related  to  a 
chemical  process,  it  was  transferred  from  Class  XXIII.  to 
Class  II.  The  patent  was  taken  out  in  March  1847,  in  the 
joint  names  of  Lyons  and  Mulward,  the  latter  of  whom 
disposed  of  his  share  to  Messrs.  Elkington,  who  have  worked 
the  patent,  leaving  Mr.  Lyons  to  seek  his  remedy  in  Chan- 
cery ;  on  the  other  side,  I  have  heard  rather  a  different 
account,  and  mention  the  case  as  an  important  improvement 
in  a  chemical  process,  in  which  the  claim  is  disputed. 

I  think  I  have  said  enough  to  show  that  the  Great  Exhi¬ 
bition  has  acted  as  a  stimulus  to  those  wTho  are  commercially 
engaged  in  the  application  of  chemistry  to  practical  pur¬ 
poses.  There  is  another  class  of  men  on  wdiom  it  was  cal¬ 
culated  to  exert  an  influence  of  rather  a  different  descrip¬ 
tion  :  I  allude  to  those  who  study  the  abstract  science  of 
chemistry  philosophically,  with  a  view  of  extending  the 
general  stock  of  knowledge.  Such  men  do  not  require  the 
stimulus  of  a  Great  Exhibition;  their  stimulus  is  the  plea¬ 
sure  they  feel  at  each  step  of  their  progress  in  the  devclope- 


PROCESSES  AND  PRODUCTS. 


109 


xnent  of  science,  the  evidence  which  they  see  of  the  wisdom 
displayed  in  the  adaptation  of  the  materials  of  which  this 
earth  is  composed  to  the  purposes  tor  which  they  are  in¬ 
tended.  But  these  researches,  if  carried  on  with  a  vague, 
undefined  thirst  for  discovery,  are  less  likely  to  be  attended 
with  a  really  useful  result,  than  they  would  be  if  directed 
to  some  practical  object.  Communication  between  the  phi¬ 
losophical  chemist  and  the  chemical  manufacturer  is,  there¬ 
fore,  desirable;  the  opportunity  for  such  communication 
was  afforded  by  the  Great  Exhibition,  which  also  tended  in 
other  respects  to  promote  the  general  extension  and  diffusion 
of  knowledge.  Persons  engaged  in  the  same  pursuits  in 
different  parts  of  the  world  met  and  compared  notes,  ex¬ 
changed  information,  and  in  many  instances  laid  the  lounda- 
tion  for  future  correspondence. 

Many  of  the  exhibitors  illustrated  their  processes  by  a 
series  of  specimens  showing  the  progressive  changes  from 
the  raw  material  to  the  finished  product.  For  example,  in 
the  manufacture  of  alum  we  had  alum  slate  in  its  several 
stages  of  decomposition  resulting  in  plumose  alum,  from 
which  are  derived  some  of  the  magnificent  crystals  before 
alluded  to.  The  alum  slate  consists  of  alumina,  silica,  bi- 
sulphuret  of  iron,  and  bituminous  matter.  It  exists,  in  some 
deserted  coal-mines.  By  the  action  of  atmospheric  air  the 
bisulphuret  of  iron  undergoes  spontaneous  decomposition, 
the  iron  attracting  oxygen;  another  portion  of  oxygen  com¬ 
bines  with  the  sulphur,  forming  sulphuric  acid,  part  of 
which  unites  with  the  oxide  of  iron,  and  part  with  the 
alumina,  forming  plumose  alum.  From  this  plumose  alum 
the  sulphate  of  iron  is  obtained,  and  also  the  alum  of  com¬ 
merce — potash  being  added  to  replace  the  iron.  The  speci¬ 
mens  on  the  table,  which  came  from  Mr.  Wilson,  of  Hurlet, 
near  Glasgow,  have  been  hermetically  sealed  in  the  glass 
case  for  more  than  a  year,  and  have  undergone  no  percepti¬ 
ble  change.  A  considerable  volume  of  air  is  required  to 
effect  the  spontaneous  decomposition  of  the  alum  slate. 

The  series  of  lakes  and  carmines,  with  the  varieties  of 
the  cochineal  insect  and  the  opuntia  cochinillifera ,  on  which 
it  feeds,  affords  a  complete  and  interesting  illustration  of 
this  subject. 

In  the  raw  materials  and  drugs  comprised  in  the  materia 

10 


110  ON  THE  CHEMICAL  AND  PHARMACEUTICAL 

medica,  the  several  classes  of  products,  &c.,  were  collected 
iu  groups  to  show  the  varieties.  For  example,  there  were 
varieties  of  sarsaparilla,  rhubarb,  scammony,  opium,  cloves, 
nutmegs,  cardamoms,  with  gums,  resins,  seeds,  oils,  barks, 
&c.  Many  of  these  objects  were  also  exhibited  among  the 
collections  of  the  localities  whence  they  are  derived ;  and  it 
is  worthy  of  remark,  that  in  many  instances  the  latter 
specimens  were  inferior  to  those  in  the  English  collection — 
an  illustration  of  the  fact  that  the  commercial  enterprise 
existing  in  this  kingdom  attracts  the  best  of  everything  from 
all  parts  of  the  world,  in  the  same  manner  as  our  metro¬ 
politan  fish-market  attracts  the  best  fish  from  the  sea-side. 
As  soon  as  the  value  of  any  product  or  commodity  is  known 
it  generally  finds  its  way  to  England. 

llere  is  a  series  of  specimens  of  scammony  from  the 
English  collection.  No.  1  is  pure;  the  others  are  more  or 
less  adulterated,  down  to  No.  5,  which  is  not  worthy  of  the 
name  of  scammony.  In  the  Turkish  collection,  where  we 
might  have  expected  to  find  scammony  unusually  fine,  No.  1 
is  about  on  a  par  with  No.  8  in  those  above  mentioned,  and 
No.  5  would  not  be  recognised  as  scammony  except  by  the 
label  on  the  bottle.  It  is  only  within  a  few  years  that  pure 
scammony  has  been  known  iu  England,  and  its  introduction 
arose  from  the  circumstance  of  several  samples  of  scammony 
being  analyzed  and  found  to  be  adulterated  (chiefly  with  starch 
and  chalk)  to  an  extent  varying  from  about  15  to  60  per  cent. 
The  fact  being  reported  to  the  merchant  abroad,  he  replied 
that  he  made  it  to  suit  the  demand,  and  mixed  it  according 
to  the  price.  He  said  he  would  send  it  pure  if  desired,  but 
it  would  be  dear  in  proportion.  From  that  time  “  virgin 
scammony,”  as  it  is  called,  has  been  in  the  English  market, 
but  it  has  not  yet  found  its  way  to  the  continent  of  Europe. 
Several  foreign  professors,  lecturers  on  materia  medica,  and 
possessors  of  extensive  museums,  had  never  seen  pure  scam¬ 
mony  until  they  saw  it  at  the  Great  Exhibition,  and  were 
glad  to  obtain  a  few  ounces  as  a  specimen  to  take  home 
with  them  as  a  curiosity.  Similar  remarks  may  be  made 
with  regard  to  opium,  of  which  we  had  specimens  from 
various  localities.  This  is  a  drug  which,  like  many  others, 
is  adulterated  to  suit  the  demand. 

In  the  Turkish  collection  there  was  pure  otto  of  roses, 


PROCESSES  AND  PRODUCTS. 


Ill 


and  also  oil  of  geranium  (as  it  is  called)  with  which  it  is 
usually  mixed.  Similar  specimens  are  on  the  table  from 
the  English  collection.  It  is  only  recently  that  these  two 
articles  have  been  imported  separately,  and  this  is  decidedly 
an  improvement,  as  the  public  may  now  purchase  some  of 
each,  and  mix  them  according  to  taste.  In  the  Indian  col¬ 
lection  we  have  the  grass  oil,  which  appears  to  be  identical 
with  the  so-called  oil  of  geranium,  showing  that  the  latter 
name  is  erroneous.  It  is  the  product  of  one  of  the  andro- 
pogons,  of  which  there  are  three  specimens  on  the  table. 
In  several  other  instances  the  Exhibition  has  assisted  in 
correcting  errors  in  the  identification  of  vegetable  products, 
and  furnished  a  clue  to  further  investigation. 

Among  other  results  to  be  anticipated  from  the  Great 
Exhibition,  the  probable  extension  of  commerce  may  be 
mentioned.  In  some  departments  I  am  aware  that  opinions 
differ  on  this  subject;  and  it  may  be  the  case  with  articles 
of  luxury,  such  as  decorated  furniture  and  ornamental  wares, 
that  the  sudden  influx  of  an  unusual  supply  from  abroad 
may  for  a  time  overstock  the  markpt.  Whatever  may  be 
the  case  in  other  branches  of  industry,  I  do  not  anticipate 
any  stagnation  in  the  department  now  under  consideration 
as  the  result  of  the  Great  Exhibition.  I  should  rather 
expect  that  fresh  sources  of  commercial  industry  would  be 
opened  by  the  exhibition  of  products  and  materials,  which, 
in  the  localities  where  they  are  indigenous,  may  be  obtained 
at  little  cost,  and  which  might  be  valuable  acquisitions  in 
other  places. 

The  Indian  collection  contained  many  chemical  and  phar¬ 
maceutical  products  which  might  be  advantageously  intro¬ 
duced,  and  I  am  informed  that  negotiations  are  already  in 
progress  for  the  extension  of  trade  in  that  quarter.  I  need 
not  enlarge  on  this  subject,  as  the  productions  of  India  form 
the  materials  for  a  future  lecture  by  Dr.  Royle. 

British  Guiana  furnished  numerous  products,  some  of 
which  are  on  the  table.  Several  varieties  of  capsicum,  starch, 
meal,  gums,  rgsins,  fruits,  &c.  Here  is  the  meal  ot  the 
bitter  cassava  ( janvpha  manihot ),  which  is  separated  from 
the  juice  by  means  of  this  long  cylindrical  basket  called  a 
cassava-squeezer.  When  filled  with  the  bruised  root,  a 
weight  is  attached  to  it  which  contracts  the  diameter,  and 


112  ON  THE  CHEMICAL  AND  PHARMACEUTICAL 

the  juice  escapes  through  the  interstices — a  very  different 
apparatus  from  the  hydraulic  press  used  in  this  country  for 
the  same  purpose.  The  juice  in  its  original  state  is  poi¬ 
sonous,  hut  by  boiling  and  fermentation  it  is  deprived  of  its 
deleterious  properties,  and  converted  into  a  condiment  called 
cassareep.  It  is  estimated  that  an  acre  of  ground  devoted 
to  the  cultivation  of  the  bitter  cassava  would  yield  a  gross 
return  of  above  78?.,  reckoning  the  meal  at  Id.,  the  cassa¬ 
reep  at  Is.  5c l.  a  pound,  and  the  starch  at  40s.  a  hundred¬ 
weight. 

From  the  interest  with  which  our  foreign  visiters  exa¬ 
mined  the  British  productions  in  the  class  now  under  con¬ 
sideration,  and  the  communications  which  have  been  made 
respecting  many  of  them,  there  is  every  reason  to  anticipate 
that  the  extension  of  commerce  will  be  reciprocal. 

The  Exhibition  has  also  been  the  means  of  directing 
attention  to  those  laws  which  interfere  with  the  free  deve- 
lopernent  of  industry  and  the  progress  of  the  arts  and  manu¬ 
factures.  It  has,  unfortunately,  been  too  much  the  policy 
of  the  legislature  in  this  country  to  impose  heavy  taxes  and 
restrictions  on  industry,  and  although  some  relief  has  lately 
been  afforded,  much  remains  to  be  done.  The  subject  ad¬ 
dresses  itself  especially  to  a  society  devoted  to  the  encourage¬ 
ment  of  the  industrial  arts.  We  have  seen  in  the  Great 
Exhibition  a  striking  example  of  the  effect  of  the  removal 
of  such  burdens  on  industry  in  the  improvement  which  has 
taken  place  in  the  manufacture  of  glass  since  the  repeal  of 
the  duty. 

Glass-making  is  a  chemical  art,  and  it  is  in  this  sense 
that  I  allude  to  it,  although  it  comes  under  another  section 
as  a  branch  of  industry.  As  long  as  the  duty  was  in  force, 
it  was  an  obstacle  to  improvement.  The  amount  of  the 
duty  was  a  small  portion  of  the  evil  compared  to  the  inqui¬ 
sitorial  restrictions  inseparable  from  the  collection  of  a  tax 
of  this  description.  Every  operation  of  the  manufacturer 
was  conducted  under  surveillance.  He  had  no  inducement 
to  deviate  from  the  regular  routine  of  his.  business  with  a 
view  of  discovering  an  improved  process ;  for  if  he  tried  an 
experiment,  the  eyes  of  the  officer  were  upon  him.  lie  must 
pay  the  duty  at  all  events,  and  whatever  might  be  his  suc¬ 
cess,  he  could  not  secure  to  himself  the  advantage,  as  the 


PROCESSES  AND  PRODUCTS. 


113 


secret  was  in  tlie  possession  of  another  over  whom  he  had 
no  control.  It  would  he  difficult  to  exaggerate  the  ob¬ 
structive  and  withering  influence  of  this  system  of  espionage, 
or  to  contrive  a  more  effectual  bar  to  the  progress  of  any 
industrial  art.  But  as  soon  as  the  incubus  was  removed,  a 
new  era  in  the  history  of  glass-making  commenced,  and  the 
Crystal  Palace  was  called  into  existence  as  a  monument  to 
commemorate  the  event.  Within  the  Crystal  Palace  we 
find  numerous  specimens  of  glass,  adapted  to  a  variety  of 
purposes  to  which  it  had  not  previously  been  applied. 
Many  of  these  improvements  and  appliances  are  in  their 
infancy,  and  it  is  impossible  to  foresee  where  they  will  end. 

I  mentioned  that  several  of  the  leading  chemical  manu¬ 
facturers  in  France  and  Germany  did  not  exhibit.  This 
did  not  arise  from  the  fear  of  being  left  behind  in  the  compe¬ 
tition,  but,  I  rather  suspect,  from  an  opposite  cause.  In 
the  manufacture  of  certain  chemical  products  in  which  spirit 
of  wine  is  required,  the  English  chemist,  whose  spirit  is 
heavily  taxed,  cannot  compete  with  the  French  or  German 
chemists,  who  obtain  their  spirit  at  about  a  fourth  of  the 
price.  On  this  account  many  products  are  largely  imported 
which  would  otherwise  be  made  in  this  country.  Some  of 
the  foreign  makers  of  such  products  could  have  made  a 
magnificent  display  at  the  Exhibition,  but  by  so  doing  they 
might  have  given  umbrage  to  some  of  their  customers. 
This  is  an  inference  which  may  fairly  be  drawn  from  the 
absence  of  certain  names  from  the  list  of  exhibitors ;  and  I 
mention  it  to  show  the  influence  of  high  duties  in  crippling 
British  industry.  The  difference  between  the  spirit  duty  iu 
England  and  in  Scotland  almost  drives  the  English  chemist 
out  of  the  field  in  the  manufacture  of  chloroform  and  some 
other  articles  derived  from  or  prepared  with  spirit,  but  not 
coming  within  the  definition  of  “  spirit  mixtures.” 

I  am  aware  that  there  are  practical  difficulties  in  regard 
to  the  spirit  duty  •  these,  however,  do  not  apply  to  the  tax 
upon  paper,  which  in  some  branches  of  its  manufacture  has 
derived  improvements  from  chemical  processes.  Those  who 
duly  estimate  the  influence  of  education  must  be  sensible  of 
the  impolicy  of  placing  a  check  on  improvements  and 
economy,  in  the  manufacture  of  the  material  on  which  in¬ 
struction  is  conveyed. 

.  10  * 


114  ON  THE  CHEMICAL  AND  PHARMACEUTICAL 

If  the  plea  of  necessity  or  some  countervailing  advantage 
could  be  urged  in  favour  of  these  taxes  upon  industry,  we 
might  patiently  submit ;  but  it  is  not  so  easy  to  be  reconciled 
when  we  find  that  an  amount  equal  to  the  whole  of  the 
paper  duty,  together  with  the  entire  receipts  of  the  Great 
Exhibition,  is  likely  to  be  absorbed  in  the  expenses  of  a 
disastrous  and  hopeless  war,  of  which  it  is  emphatically  ob¬ 
served  in  “  The  Times,”  of  Monday  last,  “  Our  yearly  out¬ 
lay  in  this  agreeable  work  is  about  four  times  the  total^sum 
devoted  to  the  purposes  of  art,  science,  and  public  education 
in  the  United  Kingdom.” 

The  Industrial  Exhibition  was  designed  as  an  antidote  to 
such  calamities,  as  a  means  of  promoting  peace  aDd  harmony 
by  the  encouragement  of  commercial  and  friendly  inter¬ 
course  throughout  the  world.  The  discussion  of  the  anti¬ 
dote  naturally  suggests  an  allusion  to  the  existence  of  the 
poison. 

The  necessity  for  an  amendment  in  the  patent  laws  is 
another  subject,  which  has  been  brought  prominently  for¬ 
ward  by  circumstances  connected  with  the  Great  Exhibition. 
I  am  aware  that  a  Committee  of  this  Society  has  been  en¬ 
gaged  in  the  endeavour  to  obtain  this  amendment.  The 
Bill  having  been  thrown  out,  I  trust  these  efforts  will  be 
renewed  with  more  success  early  next  session.  There  are 
several  chemical  inventions,  among  many  others,  which  will 
be  affected  by  the  result. 

The  Great  Exhibition  has  furnished  numerous  contribu¬ 
tions  to  museums,  illustrating  art,  science,  and  industry. 
Among  these,  the  British  Museum,  the  Museum  at  Kew, 
and  the  Museum  of  Economic  Geology,  may  be  mentioned 
as  the  three  public  institutions  which  have  participated. 
Among  the  chartered  or  private  societies,  I  may  include 
the  Chemical,  Pharmaceutical,  Geological,  Linnean,  and 
Zoological.  In  these  institutions  the  specimens  are  pre¬ 
served  for  reference  and  examination  by  those  who  are  in¬ 
terested  in  the  several  subjects  illustrated. 

I  ought  not  to  pass  over  the  distribution  of  prizes  among 
other  elements  of  the  Great  Exhibition.  It  has  been 
customary  to  give  prizes  at  the  Expositions  in  France  and 
in  other  places,  and  it  is  supposed  by  some  that  this  is  a 
necessary  accompaniment  of  an  exhibition.  The  prizes  are 


PROCESSES  AND  PRODUCTS. 


115 


intended,  first,  as  an  extra  stimulus  to  industry;  secondly, 
as  .a  reward  of  merit.  With  regard  to  the  first  of  these 
objects,  I  very  much  question  whether  the  desire  to  obtain 
prizes  induced  any  persons  to  exhibit  who  would  not  have 
done  so  in  the  absence  of  this  prospect :  and  I  also  doubt 
whether  among  the  exhibitors  the  proposed  honorary  dis¬ 
tinction  operated  as  an  extra  stimulus  to  exertion.  As  re¬ 
wards  of  merit,  I  am  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  the  prizes 
W(y;e  a  fallacy.  The  same  prize  being  given  for  very  differ¬ 
ent  degrees  of  merit,  those  who  deserved  it  most  naturally 
appreciated  it  least,  and  vice  versa ,  consequently  the  amount 
of  reward  is  inversely  in  the  ratio  of  the  degree  of  merit. 
The  reward  which  exhibitors  most  desire,  and  which  is  to 
them  of  the  most  substantial  importance,  is  the  approval 
and  patronage  of  the  public ;  and  the  publication  of  a  de¬ 
tailed  report  prepared  by  competent  persons  in  each  class, 
and  giving  to  each  exhibitor  the  credit  which  is  his  due, 
would  give  more  general  satisfaction  and  operate  as  a  greater 
stimulus  than  the  distribution  of  2918  medals  precisely 
similar  for  performances  totally  different. 

In  conclusion,  I  may  advert  to  the  probable  influence  of 
the  Great  Exhibition  in  promoting  education  in  chemistry 
and  pharmacy,  by  drawing  attention  to  the  importance  of 
institutions  in  which  these  branches  of  science  are  taught. 
In  the  present  state  of  the  law  in  this  country,  no  school 
of  chemistry  or  pharmacy  can  exist,  unless  liberally  assisted 
by  donations  or  subscriptions.  Even  the  Royal  College  of 
Chemistry,  notwithstanding  the  prestige  of  the  name  of 
Prince  Albert  as  its  head,  would  have  been  in  the  “Gazette” 
long  ago  if  it  had  not  been  sustained  by  royal  munificence 
and  public  liberality.  The  school  at  the  Museum  of  Eco¬ 
nomic  Geology  is,  I  believe,  almost  entirely  supported  by 
public  funds.  The  school  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
has  been  kept  up  for  some  years  at  an  expense  of  several 
hundreds  per  annum. 

Those  who  have  examined  the  chemical  and  pharma¬ 
ceutical  products  in  the  Exhibition  must  be  aware  of  the 
necessity  of  some  special  training  and  education  for  those 
who  are  engaged  in  this  branch  of  scientific  industry ;  yet 
the  law  neither  requires  any  qualification,  nor  recognises  it 
where  it  exists.  The  pharmaceutical  chemists  have  been 


116  CHEMICAL  AND  PHARMACEUTICAL  PRODUCTS. 

endeavouring  for  several  years  to  obtain  a  remedy  for  this 
defect.  From  the  time  that  the  Great  Exhibition  was  first 
proposed  I  have  considered  it  a  move  in  the  same  direction. 
Supported  by  this  Society,  which  is  devoted  to  the  general 
advancement  of  science  in  its  various  practical  applications, 
and  including  in  its  scheme  every  branch  of  industry,  it 
appeared  to  be  the  duty  and  the  interest  of  every  class  to 
support  the  undertaking.  It  afforded  the  opportunity  foi 
an  honourable  competition  between  British  chemists  %nd 
the  chemists  of  other  nations,  and  for  useful  interchange  of 
ideas  between  persons  engaged  in  the  same  pursuits  •,  it  was 
calculated  to  promote  harmony  and  good  fellowship  through 
the  medium  of  scientific  and  commercial  intercourse.  Its 
general  tendency  was  to  unite,  and  therefore  to  strengthen, 
the  hands  of  those  who,  in  their  several  departments,  are 
engaged  in  the  advancement  of  science,  and  its  application 
to  commerce  and  the  arts. 


LECTURE  V 


ON 

THE  CHEMICAL  PRINCIPLES  INVOLVED  IN  THE 
MANUFACTURES  OF  THE  EXHIBITION  AS 
INDICATING  THE  NECESSITY  OF 
INDUSTRIAL  INSTRUCTION. 


BY 


LYON  PLAYFAIR,  C.B.  F.R.S 


LYON  PLAYFAIR,  C.B.  F.R.S. 


ON 


THE  CHEMICAL  PRINCIPLES  INVOLVED  IN  THE 
MANUFACTURES  OF  THE  EXHIBITION. 


The  industrial  products  of  the  different  countries  repre¬ 
sented  at  the  Exhibition  showed,  as  a  marked  feature  of 
ascending  Civilization,  that  civilized  states  differ  from  bar¬ 
barous  nations  in  their  manner  of  employing  natural  forces 
as  aids  to  production.  In  the  less  advanced  State,  human 
labour,  often  exhibited  with  an  endurance  and  patience 
scarcely  conceivable  to  Europeans,  attained  good  results, 
though  not  superior  to  those  produced  by  European  methods 
involving  quick  execution  with  little  manual  labour.  I  might 
refer  you,  as  an  example,  to  the  fine  blue  glazed  tobes  worn 
by  the  higher  class  of  Africans.  This  cloth,  dyed  with  in¬ 
digo,  receives  its  gloss  by  the  laborious  process  of  rubbing 
with  the  shell  of  a  snail  as  hard  as  the  force  of  the  wrist 
can  bear.  About  fifty  years  since,  our  handloom  weavers 
used  a  round  bottle  for  a  similar  purpose,  but  now  our 
calenderers  give,  in  the  same  time,  to  miles  of  cloth  a 
gloss  superior  to  that  produced  by  this  infinitely  laborious 
process  to  a  few  inches  of  the  material.  It  would  appear 
that  the  less  civilized  nations  attain  a  high  degree  of  ex¬ 
cellence  in  manufactures  when  they  depend  on  mere  inge¬ 
nuity  and  labour,  as  in  the  muslins  of  Dacca  and  Chunderee, 
and  do  not  involve  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  natural 
forces.  So  far  as  regards  beauty  of  design  and  the  harmon  v 

(119) 


120  ON  THE  CHEMICAL  PRINCIPLES  INVOLVED 

of  colours,  European  nations  had  little  to  teach,  hut  much 
to  learn.  The  rude  pottery  of  Tunis  was  more  elegant  in 
form  than  the  common  pottery  of  modern  Europe.  The 
shawls  and  carpets  of  India,  both  as  to  design  and  harmony 
of  colouring,  were  unequalled.  So  long  as  the  manufactures 
involved  human  labour  and  a  perception  of  beauty  as  their 
principal  elements,  the  less  civilized  states  equalled,  and 
often  excelled,  the  productions  of  Europe.  But  when 
economy  of  time  and  of  labour,  or  an  enlightened  compre¬ 
hension  of  a  natural  force,  became  essential  conditions, 
then  the  striking  progress  of  European  manufactures  was 
manifested. 

The  progress  of  civilization,  with  its  necessary  increase 
of  human  wants,  compelled  man  to  invent  means  for  their 
gratification.  The  study  of  natural  forces  then  became 
necessary,  because  their  employment  not  only  added  much 
to  his  power,  but  also  materially  economized  his  time.  The 
cleansing  of  the  Augean  stables  by  manual  labour  was  im¬ 
possible  even  to  the  enduring  powers  of  Hercules,  but  by 
the  use  of  a  natural  force,  in  the  form  of  the  waters  of  the 
Alpheus,  the  work  was  speedily  and  effectually  accomplished. 

The  position  of  nations  in  the  scale  of  civilization  de¬ 
pends  upon  their  greater  or  less  acquaintance  with,  and 
employment  of,  natural  forces.  All  nations  have  a  concep¬ 
tion  of  their  use,  but  their  relative  success  arises  from  their 
applying  them  to  the  best  advantage  and  under  the  most 
favourable  circumstances.  In  the  attempt  to  storm  the  fort 
of  Arcot,  the  Rajah  drove  before  him  numerous  elephants, 
armed  with  iron  plates,  in  the  hope  that  the  gates  would 
yield  to  these  living  battering-rams.  But  the  gallant  Clive 
met  this  ill-applied,  by  a  well-applied,  force.  The  eighth 
of  an  ounce  of  gunpowder,  propelling  an  ounce  of  lead  from 
an  iron  tube,  was  sufficient  to  alter  the  direction  of  this 
misused  force,  and  to  cause  the  huge  beasts  to  turn  and 
trample  upon  the  army  using  them  as  allies. 

Mechanics  being  a  deductive  science,  and  naturally  grow¬ 
ing  from  the  observation  of  common  phenomena,  afforded 
powers  which  man  availed  himself  of  in  an  early  state.  The 
separate  action  of  two  mechanical  forces  being  known,  the 
result  of  their  combined  action  can  be  predicated.  But  in 
chemistry  it  is  very  different.  Two  bodies,  such  as  muriatic 


IN  THE  MANUFACTURES  OF  THE  EXHIBITION.  121 

acid  gas  and  ammoniacal  gas  being  brought  together,  no 
previous  reasoning  could  tell  us  that  from  these  two  gases  a 
solid  would  be  produced ;  and  nothing  inherent  in  them¬ 
selves  could  enable  us  to  say,  that  the  acid  character  of  the 
one  and  the  alkaline  character  of  the  other  would  wholly 
disappear  in  the  resultant.  Chemistry,  therefore,  in  its 
present  state,  as  Mills  has  shown,  is  not  so  much  a  deductive 
as  an  experimental  science.  Before  it  could  be  applied  to 
the  purposes  of  Industry,  its  experience  had  to  accumulate, 
and  its  teachings  to  be  appreciated  and  systematized.  This 
accumulation  of  experience  has  been  going  on  from  the  time 
of  Tubal-Cain  until  now,  and  every  day,  in  adding  new 
facts  to  its  stores,  materially  augments  its  powers.  It  is 
not,  therefore,  surprising  that  it  is  one  of  the  last  of  the 
sciences  which,  as  a  branch  of  systematized  knowledge, 
has  offered  its  services  to  man ;  yet,  during  its  short  exist¬ 
ence  as  a  separate  science,  it  has  increased  human  resources 
and  enjoyments  to  a  greater  degree  than  any  of  its  elder 
sisters.  If  I  can  show  you  this  by  proofs  derived  from  the 
Exhibition,  it  will  naturally  follow,  that  the  study  of 
Chemistry  is  essential  to  those  engaged  in  manufacturing 
Industry. 

The  wants  of  civilization  and  the  effects  of  competition 
require  the  effective  application  of  increased  power,  both 
with  regard  to  economy  of  labour  and  of  time;  and,  in  the 
gratification  of  these  wants,  there  is  a  constant  aim  to  render 
objects  apparently  of  little  value  useful  and  productive. 
These,  the  benefits  conferred  upon  industry  by  mechanical 
science,  as  showm  by  Babbage  and  others,  are  also  afforded 
still  more  strikingly  by  her  younger  sister,  Chemistry. 
Examining  the  various  applications  of  Chemical  Science  to 
manufactures,  they  naturally  divide  themselves  into  the 
following  three  heads,  which  I  therefore  adopt  as  the  basis 
of  my  Lecture. 

1.  Chemical  appliances  which  have  added  to  human 
power,  either  by  furnishing  substitutes  for  mechanical  con¬ 
trivances,  or  by  affording  tools  and  methods  of  arriving  at 
results  formerly  impossible. 

2.  Methods  of  producing  economy  of  time,  generally 
resulting  from  a  constant  tendency  to  simplification. 

3.  Methods  of  utilizing  products  apparently  worthless, 

II 


122  ON  THE  CHEMICAL  PRINCIPLES  INVOLVED 


or  to  endowing  bodies  with  properties  which  render  them 
of  increased  value  to  industry. 

When  a  manufacture  is  already  established,  the  results 
of  competition  not  only  compel  an  increasing  attention  to 
the  economy  of  power  or  of  time,  but  also  require  au  increase 
of  the  industrial  value  of  the  article  offered  for  competition. 
He  that  can  replace  an  expensive  mechanical  power  by  a 
cheap  chemical  process,  or  can  economize  production  by  the 
happy  adaptation  of  natural  forces,  must  possess  advantages 
over  his  less  skilful  competitors.  Yulcan  produced  his 
works  more  economically  than  the  mere  mortal  blacksmiths 
of  his  time,  by  availing  himself  of  the  fires  of  Mount  Etna 
for  his  forges.  The  possibility  to  do  what  previously  could 
not  be  done  generally  effects  a  moral  as  well  as  a  physical 
result.  The  communication  of  a  new  power  often  occasions 
great  social  changes.  It  has  been  justly  said,  that  the  dis¬ 
covery  of  the  Greek  fire  projected  from  the  walls  of  Con¬ 
stantinople  u  saved  Europe  from  desolation  by  the  Saracens ;” 
and  it  is  equally  true,  that  the  personal  animosity  of  war¬ 
riors  and  the  hostile  spirit  of  nations  have  been  much  sub¬ 
dued  by  the  new  system  of  tactics  introduced  when  a  German 
monk,  in  deflagrating  a  mixture  of  sulphur,  nitre,  and 
chai’coal,  discovered  gunpowder.  Morality  was  improved 
and  crime  lessened,  when  the  brilliant  lighting  of  our  streets 
by  the  introduction  of  gas  made  every  passer-by  a  detective 
policeman;  just  as  the  cares,  anxieties,  and  expenses  of  a 
government,  will  be  diminished  by  a  fuller  developement  of 
the  electric  telegraph. 

In  addition  to  the  direct  communication  of  power,  the 
increased  economy  of  time  resulting  from  chemical  appliances 
is  of  immense  importance  in  manufactures.  This  sometimes 
follows  the  discovery  of  new  bodies  endowed  with  peculiar 
properties,  but  it  far  more  commonly  arises  from  the  reduc¬ 
tion  of  a  complex  to  a  simple  process.  It  is  with  Chemistry 
as  with  Mechanics;  the  progress  of  discovery  is  in  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  simplification.  The  simplification  of  complex  pro¬ 
cesses  is  the  economy  of  labour,  the  husbanding  of  wealth. 
Industry,  in  its  progress,  continually  finds  more  ready  means 
of  cultivating  and  reaping  fields  long  in  its  possession.  You 
all  recollect  the  story  of  poor  Ilo-ti  and  the  pig,  told  with 


IN  THE  MANUFACTURES  OF  THE  EXHIBITION.  123 


such  delightful  vivacity  by  Charles  Lamb.  When  Ilo-ti’s 
house,  containing  a  litter  of  young  pigs,  was  burned  to  the 
ground,  it  was  natural  that  he  should  discover  the  delicate 
taste  of  roasted  pig;  and  it  was  equally  natural,  as  a  conse¬ 
quence  of  this  discovery,  that  the  inhabitants  of  Pekin 
should  introduce  pigs  into  their  houses,  and  burn  them  down, 
when  they  desired  to  participate  in  a  dish  so  savoury :  but 
it  was  a  great  discovery  when  an  ingenious  person  found 
that  a  common  fire  would  do  equally  well,  and  that  it  was 
not  absolutely  necessary  to  burn  down  a  house  every  time  a 
pig  had  to  be  dressed.  “  By  such  slow  degrees/’  concludes 
the  Chinese  History,  “do  the  most  useful  and  seemingly 
the  most  obvious  arts  make  their  way  among  mankind.” 
The  moral  of  this  well-known  story  is  of  every-day  occur¬ 
rence  in  the  Chemistry  of  the  arts.  Not  a  year  passes  with¬ 
out  the  most  mature  processes  of  manufacture  being  further 
simplified  and  economized.  It  is  with  industry  as  with 
nature;  many  of  the  lower  animals  have  a  repetition  of 
organs,  destined  for  the  performance  of  similar  functions 
exercised  by  single  organs  in  the  higher  animals.  Various 
stomachs  and  several  eyes  in  the  lower  creatures  are  not 
more  effective  than  one  stomach  and  two  eyes  in  man.  The 
law  of  repetition  of  organs  is  like  the  complex  processes  of 
manufactures,  represented  by  fewer  but  more  perfect  methods 
as  civilization  ascends.  Argus,  with  his  hundred  eyes,  was 
not  nearly  such  a  practical  man  as  a  Cyclops  with  one  eye ; 
the  hundred  eyes  of  Argus  were  found  napping  when  work 
had  to  be  performed,  but  with  the  one  eye  of  the  Cyclops 
the  trident  was  forged  which  assured  to  Neptune  the  empire 
of  the  sea.  The  industrial  position  of  England  has  been 
gained  by  her  perception  of  this  truth,  and  by  her  constant 
endeavours  to  replace  complex  processes  of  manufacture  by 
means  more  simple  and  perfect. 

The  third  division,  into  which  I  have  divided  chemical 
appliances  to  Industry,  is  one  peculiarly  characteristic  of 
advancing  civilization.  European  nations,  as  they  increase 
in  wants,  examine  every  material,  to  sec  if  it  be  adapted  to 
their  ministration ;  they  do  not,  like  the  African  Dokos, 
bury  their  heads  in  the  ground,  and  shaking  their  legs  in 
the  air,  thank  the  Supreme  Being  that  they  are  content 
with  snakes,  ants,  and  mice,  for  their  food.  Using  their 


124  ON  THE  CHEMICAL  PRINCIPLES  INVOLVED 

heads  for  sublimer  purposes,  they  observe  and  investigate 
the  phenomena  and  properties  of  each  body,  so  as  to  ascer¬ 
tain  how  far  it  may  be  made  subservient  to  their  desires. 
In  these  investigations  Chemistry  offers  vital  aid  :  she,  like 
a  prudent  housewife,  economizes  every  scrap.  The  horse¬ 
shoe  nails,  dropped  in  the  streets  during  the  daily  traffic, 
are  carefully  collected  by  her,  and  reappear  in  the  form  of 
swords  and  guns.  The  clippings  of  the  travelling  tinker 
are  mixed  with  the  parings  of  horses’  hoofs  from  the  smithy, 
or  the  cast-off  woollen  garments  of  the  poorest  inhabitants 
of  a  sister  isle,  and  soon  afterwards,  in  the  form  of  dyes  of 
brighest  blue,  grace  the  dress  of  courtly  dames.  The  main 
ingredient  of  the  ink  with  which  I  now  write  was  possibly 
once  part  of  the  broken  hoop  of  an  old  beer-barrel.  The 
bones  of  dead  animals  yield  the  chief  constituent  of  lucifer- 
matches.  The  dregs  of  port-wine,  carefully  rejected  by  the 
port-wine  drinker  in  decanting  his  favourite  beverage,  are 
taken  by  him  in  the  morning,  in  the  form  of  Seidlitz  powders, 
to  remove  the  effects  of  his  debauch.  The  offal  of  the  streets 
and  the  washiugs  of  coal-gas  reappear  carefully  preserved  in 
the  lady’s  smelling-bottle,  or  are  used  by  her  to  flavour 
blancmanges  for  her  friends.  This  economy  of  the  Chemistry 
of  Art  is  only  in  imitation  of  what  we  observe  in  the  Che¬ 
mistry  of  Nature.  Animals  live  and  die;  their  dead  bodies, 
passing  into  putridity,  escape  into  the  atmosphere,  whence 
plants  again  mould  them  into  forms  of  organic  life ;  and 
these  plants,  actually  consisting  of  a  past  generation  of 
ancestors,  form  our  present  food. 

The  objects  of  the  Exhibition  were  divided  into — 1.  Their 
raw  materials;  2.  The  machinery  used  in  their  preparation ; 
3.  The  manufactures  themselves;  4.  The  fine  art  employed 
to  adorn  them.  I  would  that  I  had  time  to  take  even  a 
general  chemical  survey  of  these  four  divisions,  and  show 
you  how  everywhere  Chemistry  is  affording  her  aid  ;  but,  as 
this  is  impossible,  I  must  content  myself  with  isolated  ex¬ 
amples  from  the  manufacturing  department  only,  adducing 
them,  however,  merely  as  indications  of  the  universal  pre¬ 
sence  of  the  Science. 


IN  THE  MANUFACTURES  OF  THE  EXHIBITION.  125 


Iron  Smelting. 

Let  us  select  the  smelting  of  iron*  as  an  example  of  the 
teachings  of  Chemistry.  If  practice,  unaided  by  Science, 
be  sufficient  for  the  prosecution  of  manufactures,  this  vene¬ 
rable  art  must  be  thoroughly  matured,  and  Science  could 
scarcely  expect  to  be  of  much  use  to  it  in  its  present  state. 
But  while  we  find  much  to  admire  in  the  triumphs  of  prac¬ 
tical  Experience,  there  is  yet  great  room  for  the  improve¬ 
ment  of  this  art.  The  cheapness  of  iron  ore,  and  of  the 
coal  used  in  its  smelting,  has  been  so  great,  that,  regardless 
of  their  capital  importance  to  this  country,  we,  like  careless 
spendthrifts,  use  them  without  thought  of  the  future. 

The  mode  of  smelting  iron  consists  in  mixing  the  ore 
with  lime  and  coal,  the  former  producing  a  slag  or  glass  with 
the  impurities  of  the  ore,  while  the  coal  reduces  the  oxide 
of  iron  to  its  metallic  state.  Much  heat  is  required  in  the 
process  of  smelting,  but  the  cold  air  blown  in,  as  the  blast, 
lowers  the  temperature,  and  compels  the  addition  of  fuel,  as 
a  compensation  for  this  reduction.  Science  pointed  to  this 
loss,  and  now  the  air  is  heated  before  being  introduced  to 
the  furnace.  The  quantity  of  coal  is  wonderfully  economized 
by  this  application  of  Science;  for  instead  of  seven  tons  of 
coal  per  ton  of  iron,  three  tons  now  suffice,  and  the  amount 
produced  in  the  same  time  is  increased  nearly  sixty  per 
cent.  Assuredly  this  was  a  great  step  in  advance.  Could 
Science  do  more  ? 

Professor  Bunsen,  in  an  inquiry  in  which  I  was  glad  to 
afford  him  aid,  has  shown  that  she  can.  We  examined  the 
furnaces,  in  each  portion  of  the  burning  mass,  so  as  fully  to 
expose  the  operations  in  every  part  of  the  blazing  structure. 
This  seemingly  impossible  dissection  was  accomplished  by 
the  simplest  means;  the  furnaces  arc  charged  from  the  top, 
and  the  materials  gradually  descend  to  the  bottom ;  with  the 
upper  charge  a  long  graduated  tube  was  allowed  to  descend, 
and  the  gases  streaming  from  ascertained  depths  were  col¬ 
lected  and  analyzed.  Their  composition  betrayed  with  per- 

*  Although  the  smelting  of  iron  is  not  strictly  within  the  division 
of  manufactures,  according  to  the  classification,  its  importance  to 
this  country  will  authorize  an  exception  in  its  favour. 

11* 


126  ON  THE  CHEMICAL  PRINCIPLES  INVOLVED 


feet  accuracy  tlie  nature  of  the  actions  at  each  portion  of  the 
furnace,  and  the  astonishing  fact  was  elicited,  that,  in  spite 
of  the  saving  produced  by  the  introduction  of  the  hot  blast, 
no  less  than  811-  per  cent,  of  fuel  is  actually  lost,  only  18£ 
per  cent,  being  realized.  If,  in  round  numbers,  we  suppose 
that  four-fifths  of  the  fuel  be  thus  wasted,  no  less  than 
5,400,000  tons  are  every  year  thrown  uselessly  into  the 
atmosphere,  this  being  nearly  one-seventh  of  the  whole  coal 
annually  raised  in  the  United  Kingdom.  This  enormous 
amount  of  fuel  escapes  in  the  form  of  combustible  gases, 
capable  of  being  collected  and  economized;  yet  in  spite  of 
these  well-ascertained  facts,  there  are  scarcely  half-a-dozen 
furnaces  in  the  United  Kingdom  where  this  economy  is 
realized  byr  the  utilization  of  the  waste  gases  of  the  furnace. 

Large  quantities  of  ammonia  are  annually  lost  in  iron¬ 
smelting,  which  might  readily  bo  collected.  Ammonia  is 
constantly  increasing  in  value,  and  each  furnace  produces 
and  wastes  at  the  least  1  cwt.  of  its  principal  salt  daily, 
equivalent  to  a  considerable  money  loss.  With  the  low  price 
of  iron,  this  subsidiary  product  is  worthy  of  attention.  As 
I  write,  a  Welsh  smelter  has  visited  me,  to  say  that  he  has 
adopted  this  suggestion  with  advantageous  results.  I  might 
adduce  other  improvements  introduced  by  Chemistry  in  the 
smelting  process ;  but  these  will  suffice  to  show  you  that 
she  has  added  to  human  power  by  increasing  production, 
wdiile  she  has  also  economized  both  the  time  and  the  ma¬ 
terials  employed. 


Textile  Fabrics. 

Without  the  aid  of  Chemistry,  it  would  have  been  impos¬ 
sible  for  textile  fabrics  to  have  attained  their  present 
developement.  The  bleaching  of  cotton  and  linen  was  not 
much  practised  in  England  until  about  a  century  since : 
before  that  time,  they  were  sent  to  Holland,  where  the 
operation  of  bleaching  consisted  in  steeping  them  in  potash 
for  a  few  days,  afterwards  for  a  week  in  buttermilk,  and 
then  exposing  them  for  several  months  on  a  meadow  to  the 
influence  of  the  sun  and  moisture.  A  great  improvement 
was  made  in  Scotland,  by  substituting  sulphuric  acid  for 
sour  milk;  and  the  immediate  effect  was,  to  reduce  the  time 


IN  THE  MANUFACTURES  OF  THE  EXHIBITION.  127 

from  eight  to  four  months.  In  1785,  a  French  Chemist 
suggested  the  use  of  chlorine  as  a  means  of  hastening  the 
process,  and,  in  the  last  year  of  the  eighteenth  century,  a 
compound  of  this  gas  with  lime  was  introduced  by  Tennant 
of  Glasgow.  The  developement  of  the  cotton  manufacture 
now  became  immense.  By  a  happy  adaptation  of  other 
chemical  processes,  in  conjunction  with  the  bleaching  power 
of  chlorine,  the  time  required  for  the  whitening  ot  cotton 
and  linen  fabrics  was  at  once  reduced  from  months  to  hours, 
while  the  miles  of  outstretched  calico,  defacing  the  verdure 
of  country  districts,  disappeared,  the  whole  operation  being 
carried  on  within  the  small  space  of  an  ordinary  factory. 
You  may  imagine  wThat  an  impulse  this  gave  to  a  trade  so 
important  to  us.  The  bleaching  of  calico  now  consists  of  a 
chemical  operation  of  great  precision ;  that  of  silk  and  wool 
has  not  yet  been  so  thoroughly  comprehended  by  Science, 
and  consequently  has  not  derived  so  many  advantages  from 
its  application. 

A  greater  acquaintance  with  the  theory  of  bleaching  has 
led  to  a  better  understanding  of  the  very  ancient  practice  of 
washing.  The  washing  of  domestic  linen  is  by  no  means  an 
operation  too  insignificant  for  the  attention  of  the  Chemist. 
A  dozen  shirts  may  cost  3 1.  12s.,  this  being  the  united  in¬ 
terest  of  the  producer,  cotton-spinner,  and  shirt-maker. 
These  shirts  will  last  three  years,  with  care,  and  supposing 
three  to  be  washed  each  week,  the  cost  of  washing — that  is, 
the  washerwomen’s  interest  in  the  dozen  shirts — amounts  to 
77  16s.,  or  more  than  double  that  of  the  cotton-spinner.  In 
fact,  the  cost  of  washing  is  about  one-twelfth  the  income  of 
a  family  of  moderate  means.  Taking  rich  and  poor  together, 
and  estimating  the  cost  of  washing  at  no  more  than  3c7  per 
head  weekly,  the  annual  charge  of  washing  to  the  metropolis 
alone  is  1,535,0607,  which  is  equal  to  about  one-twenty- 
fifth  of  the  whole  capital  invested  in  the  cotton  manufactures 
of  the  United  Kingdom.  Hard  water  usually  contains  lime, 
and  in  washing  that  earth  unites  with  the  fatty  acid  of  soap, 
producing  an  insoluble  body  of  no  use  as  a  detergent.  For 
every  100  gallons  of  Thames  water,  30  oz.  of  soap  are  thus 
wasted,  before  a  detergent  lather  is  formed.  In  personal 
ablution,  we  economize  this  excessive  waste  by  the  uncom¬ 
fortable  practice,  universally  followed  in  London,  ol  taking 


128  ON  THE  CHEMICAL  PRINCIPLES  INVOLVED 


about  an  ounce  of  water  into  the  hands,  and  converting  it 
into  a  hither,  the  water  in  the  basin  being  only  employed  to 
rinse  this  off,  instead  of  aiding  in  the  detergence.  But  in 
washing  linen  this  plan  cannot  be  followed,  every  particle 
of  the  lime  being  removed  before  the  soap  becomes  useful; 
this,  as  a  matter  of  economy,  is  frequently  accomplished 
by  carbonate  of  soda,  as  being  cheaper  than  soap.  The 
amount  of  soap  and  soda  salt  thus  wasted  in  the  metropolis 
has  been  stated  to  be  equal  to  the  gross  water  rental. 
Hard  water,  besides  wasting  soap,  produces  a  greater  tear 
and  wear  of  clothes. 

All  these  facts  are  well  known  to  manufacturers,  and 
hence  the  care  with  which  a  water  is  selected  before  the 
seat  of  a  manufactory  is  determined.  Why,  then,  should 
we  not  attend  to  our  domestic  manufactures,  considered 
trifling  only  because  they  are  carried  on  with  a  great  divi¬ 
sion  of  labour,  unseen  in  its  aggregate  ?  Yet  these  domestic 
manufactures  are  of  more  importance,  economically,  than 
those  carried  on  in  large  and  imposing  factories. 

I  wish  I  had  time  to  refer,  with  sufiicient  detail,  to  the 
discovery  of  Mercer,  who  has  shown  that  the  immersion  of 
cotton  in  soda  or  in  sulphuric  acid  causes  an  equal  con¬ 
traction  of  the  fibres,  thus  producing  the  mechanical  effect 
of  a  loom.  If  very  fine  calico,  containing  as  much  as  180 
picks  to  the  inch,  be  thus  treated,  it  contracts  to  calico  of 
260  picks  to  the  inch — a  fineness  not  yet  attained  by  any 
mechanical  contrivance.  This  calico,  in  addition  to  its 
acquired  fineness,  lias  also  assumed  powers  which  enable  it 
to  receive  colours  superior  to  those  assumed  by  ordinary 
calico.  Before  leaving  this  important  discovery  of  Mercer, 
I  should  allude  to  one  other  by  the  same  chemist.  The 
French  calico-printers  employ  mousselines-de-laine  consist¬ 
ing  altogether  of  wool,  while  in  England  we  use  a  much 
cheaper  fabric,  consisting  of  wool  and  cotton.  The  colours 
on  this  mixture  are,  however,  extremely  meagre  when  com¬ 
pared  with  the  former;  but  Mercer  has  shown  that  the 
mixed  fabric  acquires  the  properties  of  the  other,  when  it  is 
treated  with  a  bath  of  chloride  of  lime.  This,  one  of  the 
most  important  discoveries  ever  made  in  calico-printing,  has 
been  of  great  value  to  this  country. 

I  cannot,  however,  allude  to  all  the  triumphs  of  Chemistry 


IN  THE  MANUFACTURES  OF  THE  EXHIBITION.  129 

in  calico-printing,  an  art  which  has  grown  with  the  growth 
of  Chemistry  and  strengthened  with  its  strength.  The 
knowledge  of  mordants  and  of  colours,  and  the  other  results 
of  chemical  discoveries,  are  of  every-day  occurrence.  Let 
us  take  one  of  the  last  examples.  Lapis  lazuli,  long  cele¬ 
brated  for  its  beautiful  blue,  almost  ranked  among  the  pre¬ 
cious  stones,  and  was  sold  at  a  price  which  put  it  quite  out 
of  the  reach  of  the  calico-printer.  But  chemists,  ascertain¬ 
ing  its  composition  by  analysis,  soon  learned  how  to  make 
it  by  synthesis.  Artificial  ultramarine  is  now  manufactured 
at  three  or  four  shillings  per  pound.  But  when  it  was  made, 
how  was  it  to  be  fixed  on  cloth?  From  its  insolubility,  its 
fixation  was  a  real  difficulty.  Chemists  suggested  that  the 
ultramarine  might  be  mixed  with  albumen,  which,  beino- 
coagulated  by  heat,  would  retain  the  colour  on  the  cloth  to 
which  it  was  applied.  Whole  barrels  of  the  dried  white  of 
eggs  are  now  to  be  seen  at  calico-print  works.  Yet  this  is 
an  expensive  process.  Could  common  cheese  not  be  substi¬ 
tuted  for  the  white  of  eggs  ?  Cheese  is  soluble  in  ammonia, 
and  the  ultramarine,  being  mixed  with  this  solution,  is 
retained  by  the  cheese,  when  the  ammonia  evaporates. 
Now,  therefore,  the  ultramarine  is  fastened  on  by  cheese, 
made  fiom  the  buttermilk  of  Scotland,  and  sold  under  the 
name  of  lactarine. 

A  iecent  application  of  Chemistry  to  the  economy  of 
dyeing  deseives  especial  attention.  Madder,  the  dye  most 
commonly  used  for  calico,  after  imparting  its  colour,  was 
considered  useless.  The  large  quantities  of  spent  madder 
constantly  accumulating  were  found  exceedingly  inconve¬ 
nient.  It  was  not  valuable  enough  for  the  manure-heap, 
and  the  rivers  became  polluted  in  carrying  away  the  waste 
material.  But  Chemistry  has  shown  that  actually  one-third 
of  the  colouring  matter  is  thus  thrown  away,  and  that  simple 
treatment  with  a  hot  acid  again  renders  it  available  as  a  dye. 
These  waste-heaps  are  now  sources  of  wealth,  and  the  dyer 
no  longer  poisons  the  rivers  with  spent  madder,  but  care¬ 
fully  collects  it,  in  order  that  the  chemist  may  make  it  again 
fit  for  his  use. 

fetannate  of  soda  is  a  salt  largely  used  by  calico-printers. 
The  usual  mode  of  preparing  it  was,  (1),  tin  was  reduced 
from  its  ore;  (2),  this  tin  was  dissolved  in  muriatic  acid; 


130  ON  THE  CHEMICAL  PRINCIPLES  INVOLVED 

(3),  it  was  oxidized  by  nitric  acid  or  chlorine ;  (4),  the 
oxide  thus  formed  was  precipitated  and  redissolved  by  soda, 
this  bulky,  aqueous  solution  being  furnished  to  calico-print¬ 
ers.  Mercer  simplified  the  process,  and  obtained  it  in  the 
solid  state  by  two  operations :  (1),  the  tin  was  obtained  as 
before ;  (2),  this  tin  was  fused  with  a  mixture  of  nitrate  of 
soda  and  caustic  soda,  the  former  oxidizing  it,  and  the  latter 
forming  stannate  of  soda  with  the  oxide  thus  formed,  "i  oung 
showed  in  the  Exhibition  a  still  further  simplification.  The 
common  ore  of  tin  is  an  oxide  :  why,  then,  was.it  necessary 
to  reduce  it  to  the  metallic  state  merely  to  oxidize  it  again  ? 
He  therefore  fused  the  ore  at  once  with  soda,  the  impurities 
remaining  undissolved ;  and  the  salt  was  made  by  one  opera¬ 
tion.  I  quote  this  instance  as  a  remarkable  example  oi  the 
tendency  of  Chemistry  to  simplify  processes  of  manufacture. 
The  history  of  this  salt  is  an  exact  parallel  to  that  of  Ilo-ti 
and  the  pig. 

I  might  refer  to  the  important  discoveries  of  yellow  and 
red  prussiate  of  potash,  the  formers  of  Prussian  blue ;  but 
this  would  only  be  to  cite  one  out  of  innumerable  appliances. 
I  prefer,  therefore,  to  finish  this  part  of  the  subject,,  by 
alluding  to  the  resists  and  discharges  used  in  calico-printing. 
In  order  to  preserve  white  patterns  in  the  process  of  dyeing, 
the  nations  of  the  East,  whence  calico-printing  originated, 
still  employ  the  most  laborious  mechanical  devices,  each 
white  spot  being  covered  with  sealing-wax,  or  by  being  tied 
up  and  protected  from  the  dye.  By  the  aid  of  chemistry, 
we  either  discharge  the  colour  on  the  cloth,  or  we  put  upon 
it  bodies  which  resist  the  action  of  the  mordants  and  pre¬ 
vent  the  colour  attaching  to  that  particular  part.  Acids 
made  from  the  lees  of  wine  (tartaric  acid)  and  from,  the 
lemon  (citric  acid)  are  now  largely  used  in  these  operations, 
and  hence  come  the  beautiful  patterns  we  enjoy  in  our 
dresses.  It  was  found  that,  even  when  the  whites  were 
thus  obtained,  they  became  soiled  in  washing  off  the  excess 
of  mordants  from  the  other  parts  of  the  cloth ;  and  the  only 
mode  of  preventing  this  was,  to  treat  the  cloth  with  a  bath 
of  cowdung.  Large  dairies  were  consequently  necessary 
adjuncts  of  a  calico-print  work.  Chemistry  has  shown  that 
the  action  of  the  manure  is  due  to  its  phosphates ;  and  a 
mixture  of  phosphate  of  soda,  phosphate  of  lime,  and  size, 


IN  THE  MANUFACTURES  OF  THE  EXHIBITION.  181 

is  now  substituted  for  the  filthy  baths  formerly  indispensable. 
I  could  spend  hours  in  discoursing  to  you  on  the  triumphs 
of  Chemistry  in  the  dyeing  of  textile  fabrics,  whether  of 
cotton,  wool,  and  silk,  or  their  mixtures;  but  I  must  con¬ 
tent  myself  with  these  few  isolated  examples,  and  pass  on  to 
other  subjects. 


Leather. 

The  manufacture  of  leather  has  been  less  advanced  by  the 
application  of  Chemical  Science  than  any  other  of  the  arts. 
If  Simon,  the  tanner  of  Joppa,  had  been  able  to  send  leather 
to  the  Exhibition,  no  doubt  he  would  have  carried  off  a 
medal  for  leather  as  good,  and  made  exactly  by  the  same 
process,  as  that  of  our  most  eminent  manufacturers  of  the 
present  day.  And  yet  the  science  of  leather  production  is 
better  understood  now  than  then  ;  but  so  many  physical  con¬ 
ditions  are  involved  in  the  production  of  good  leather,  that 
scientific  processes  have  been  unable  to  satisfy  them  all.  The 
hides,  steeped  in  an  infusion  of  oak-bark,  absorb  tannin  and 
are  converted  into  leather.  Good  sole  leather  takes  about  a 
year  to  tan,  and  even  calf-skins  consume  a  month  in  the 
operation.  .  Chemists  have  certainly  indicated  substitutes  for 
bark,  containing  a  greater  amount  of  tannin,  and  these,  as 
foi  instance  terra  japonica,  cutch,  catechu,  and  dividivi,  pro¬ 
duce  their  effects  in  half  the  time ;  but  the  leather  is  said 
not  to  be  so  durable.  With  sumach,  light  skins  may  be 
tanned  in  twenty-four  hours,  and  with  the  aid  of  alum  even 
in  one  hour ;  but  the  resulting  manufactures  are  not  prefer¬ 
red  to  the  old  processes.  Atmospheric  and  hydrostatic  pres¬ 
sure  have  been  used  to  hasten  the  absorption;  the  refined 
laws  of  Endosmosis  and  Exosmosis  have  been  called  in  to 
accelerate  the  process ;  heavy  rollers  have  squeezed  the  so¬ 
lution  through  the  pores ;  but  all  these  methods  have  had  at 
the  best  but  a  doubtful  success.  Leather-manufacturers 
meet  men  of  science  by  the  well-founded  assertion,  that  the 
resulting  leather  is  too  porous,  too  hard  or  too  soft,  or  not 
sufficiently  durable ;  and  they  revert  to  their  old  traditional 
modes  of  preparation.  I  allude  to  these  failures  the  more 
especially  to  show  that  there  is  a  wide  chasm  between  the 
chemist  s  laboratory  and  the  workshop, — a  chasm  which  has 


132  ON  THE  CHEMICAL  PRINCIPLES  INVOLVED 

to  be  bridged  over  by  the  united  aid  of  the  philosopher  and 
the  manufacturer.  One  without  the  other  does  not  suffice, 
but  both,  working  together,  may  achieve  great  results.  Yet, 
in  bridging  over  this  chasm,  they  must  act  on  a  common 
plan.  If  the  manufacturer  build  his  half  without  under¬ 
standing  the  principles  of  construction  employed  by  the  other, 
the  sides  of  the  bridge  may  indeed  meet,  but  they  are  not 
constructed  to  receive  the  binding  influence  of  the  key -stone, 
and  the  arch  must  give  way  and  tumble  down. 

Having  thus  shown  the  comparative  failure  of  Chemistry 
in  revolutionizing  this  important  manufacture,  let  me  take 
one  or  two  instances  from  it  to  prove  that,  in  the  details  of 
the  working,  it  has  been  of  use  in  economizing  time  and 
labour,  and  in  affording  new  uses  to  comparatively  valueless 
objects.  In  removing  the  hair  from  the  hides,  previous  to 
tanning,  it  was  customary  to  shave  it  with  a  knife.  This 
process  was  tedious  and  imperfect,  and  the  following  simple 
one  is  now  used.  Lime-water  dissolves  the  bulbous  root  of 
the  hair,  when  the  hides  are  immersed  in  it  for  some  time, 
and  the  hair  may  then  be  readily  removed  by  a  blunt  instru¬ 
ment.  By  this  simple  process  one  man  can  remove  the  hair 
from  a  hundred  kid-skins  in  about  an  hour.  Still  the  immer¬ 
sion  requires  several  weeks,  while  the  addition  of  red  orpi- 
ment  to  the  lime,  as  practised  by  the  sheep-skin  manufac¬ 
turers  of  France,  reduces  the  time  to  a  few  hours. 

When  goat-skins  are  tanned  for  morocco  leather,  it  is 
necessary,  in  order  to  adapt  them  for  dyeing,  to  remove  the 
lime  absorbed  by  the  last  operation.  A  solution  of  album 
grcecum  cleanses  the  pores  effectually,  leaving  them  so 
spongelike,  that  air  can  readily  be  forced  through  them. 
Hence  the  process  of  tanning  is  rendered  much  easier,  being 
in  fact  completed  within  twenty -four  hours;  while  the  leather 
is  rendered  fit  to  assume  the  colours  so  characteristic  of  mo¬ 
rocco.  About  fifty  persons  are  employed  in  London  to  col¬ 
lect  the  sweepings  of  dog-kennels  for  this  purpose,  and  many 
more  in  applying  them ;  and  I  am  informed,  by  Mr.  Beving- 
ton,  that  the  sum  annually  paid  to  the  collectors  and  work¬ 
men  employed  in  using  this  apparently  worthless  substance, 
is  not  less  than  5000/.  in  the  metropolis  alone. 

The  currier  shaves  leather  to  render  it  of  equal  thickness, 
and  the  shavings  were  treated  as  waste,  scarcely  fit  for  the 


IN  THE  MANUFACTURES  OF  THE  EXHIBITION.  183 


manure-heap,  but  Chemistry  has  shown  that  they  contain 
much  nitrogen,  which  renders  them  well  adapted  for  the 
formation  of  the  beautiful  colour  known  as  Prussian  blue. 

Mineral  and  Metallic  Manufactures. 

The  mineral  and  metallic  manufactures  are  those  which 
obviously  have  derived  most  advantages  from  Chemistry. 
G-lass  and  pottery  are  in  fact  chemical  manufactures.  The 
hard-won  experience  of  two  thousand  years  in  China  has 
been  given  to  Europeans  by  a  few  years’  application  of  Che¬ 
mistry.  Glass,  made  by  the  ancients  from  the  ashes  of  ferns 
and  other  plants,  is  now  formed  by  soda  artificially  produced 
from  sea  salt.  The  Exhibition  showed  that  this  manufacture, 
fai  ad  \  anced  as  it  is,  may  still  be  susceptible  of  improvement; 
for,  in  the  French  department,  glass  was  shown  in  which 
zinc  and  barytes  were  substituted  for  lead.  The  hardening 
and  production  of  steel,  the  discovery  of  many  new  alloys 
endowed  with  properties  most  important  to  the  arts,  and  the 
electrotyping  of  metals,  are  familiar  examples  of  chemical 
appliances;  but  this  very  familiarity  renders  it  unnecessary 
that  I  should  dwell  upon  them.  I,  therefore,  from  want 
of  time,  leave  these  important  manufactures,  and  pass  on 
to  others,  in  which  the  influence  of  Chemistry  may  be  less 
palpable  to  the  general  observer. 


Soap. 

Soap  is  probably  not  older  than  the  Christian  era,  for  the 
soap  of  the  Old  Testament  seems  to  have  been  merely  alkali. 
Iiofane  history,  previous  to  Christ,  does  not  allude  to  soap, 
and,  in  all  the  detailed  descriptions  of  the  bath  and  of  wash- 
ing,  it  is  never  mentioned.  Pliny  describes  its  manufac¬ 
ture,  but  ascribes  to  it  as  singular  a  use  as  that  given  to  the 
potato  by  Gerard,  who,  in  his  “  Herbal,”  assures  us  that 
it  “is  a  plant  from  America,  which  is  an  excellent  thing  for 
making  sweet  sauces,  and  also  to  be  eaten  with  sops  and 
wines;”  so  Pliny,  in  regard  to  soap,  states,  that  its  main 
puipose  was  to  dye  the  hair  yellow,  and  that  men  used  it 
for  this  purpose  much  more  than  women.  Gradually  its 
use  became  more  extensive,  and  its  manufacture  consider- 
12 


134  ON  THE  CHEMICAL  PRINCIPLES  INVOLVED 

able.  Soap  generally  consists  of  a  fatty  acid,  combined 
with  the  alkali  of  soda.  This  soda  was  imported  from 
Spain  under  the  name  of  barilla,  itself  the  ashes  of  plants 
grown  near  the  sea.  As  these  plants  derived  their  soaa 
from  the  sea,  near  which  they  flourished,  Chemistry,  though 
singularly  enough  in  the  person  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte, 
suggested  that  it  might  be  artificially  made  from  sea  salt 
A  process  for  this  was  perfected,  and  soda  derived  from 
salt  has  now  replaced  barilla.  From  1829  to  1834  the 
average  annual  import  of  barilla  was  252,000  cwt. ;  it  is 
now  almost  nothing.  But  besides  this  substitution,  the 
cheapness  and  comparative  purity  of  the  soda  made  from 
salt  is  so  great,  that  the  manufacture  of  soap,  and  conse¬ 
quently  of  soda,  is  enormously  increased,  and  probably  ex¬ 
ceeds  ten  times  the  largest  quantity  of  barilla  ever  imported 
in  one  year  into  this  country.  Its  cheapness  and  excellence 
have  also  had  a  prodigious  effect  on  the  manufacture  of 
glass. 

Chemistry  has  thus  produced  great  economy  and  increased 
power  of  production  to  the  manufacturers  of  soap  by  fur¬ 
nishing  them  with  soda  prepared  directly  and  artificially 
from  salt,  instead  of  through  the  organism  of  plants.  This, 
however,  is  only  one  of  the  benefits  conferred  on  this  manu¬ 
facture  by  Chemical  Science.  The  fiscal  regulations  of 
foreign  countries  rendered  their  tallow  and  fats  expensive 
to  British  industry.  Russia,  with  almost  a  monopoly  of 
tallow  and  linseed  oil,  thought  it  good  policy  to  sell  them 
at  high  prices.  But  Chemistry  pointed  out  that  vegetables, 
as  well  as  animals,  produce  similar  fats.  The  fat  of  beet 
and  mutton  exists  in  cocoa  beans;  human  fat  in  olive-oil; 
that  of  butter  in  palm-oil ;  and  horse  fat  and  train-oil  arc  in 
many  oily  seeds.  Was  it,  then,  necessary  to  submit  to  the 
high  prices  of  Russian  tallow?  Now,  palm  and  cocoa-nut 
oil  largely  replace  the  fat  of  the  Russian  oxen  and  sheep, 
although  the  cheap  importation  of  similar  fats  from  Aus¬ 
tralia  and  South  America  has  rendered  the  substitution  less 
necessary. 

Perfumery. 

Much  aid  has  been  given  by  Chemistry  to  the  art  of 
perfumery.  It  is  true  that  soap  and  perfumery  are  rather 


IN  THE  MANUFACTURES  OF  THE  EXHIBITION.  135 

rivals,  the  increase  of  the  former  diminishing  the  use  of 
the  latter.  Costly  perfumes,  formerly  employed  as  a  mask 
to  want  of  cleanliness,  are  less  required  now  that  soap  has 
become  a  type  of  civilization.  Perfumers,  if  they  do  not 
occupy  whole  streets  with  their  shops,  as  they  did  in  ancient 
Capua,  show  more  science  in  attaining  their  perfumes  than 
those  of  former  times.  The  Jury  in  the  Exhibition,  or 
rather  two  distinguished  chemists  ot  that  Jury,  Dr.  Hoffman 
and  Mr.  De  la  Rue,  ascertained  that  some  of  the  most  deli¬ 
cate  perfumes  were  made  by  chemical  artifice,  and  not,  as 
of  old,  by  distilling  them  from  flowers.  The  perfume  of 
flowers  often  consists  of  oils  and  ethers,  wdiich  the  Chemist 
can  compound  artificially  in  his  laboratory.  Commercial 
enterprise  has  availed  itself  of  this  fact,  and  sent  to  the 
Exhibition,  in  the  form  of  essences,  perfumes  thus  prepared. 
Singularly  enough,  they  are  generally  derived  from  sub¬ 
stances  of  intensely  disgusting  odour.  A  peculiarly  foetid 
oil,  termed  u  fusel  oil,”  is  formed  in  making  brandy  and 
whisky.  This  fusel  oil,  distilled  with  sulphuric  acid  and 
acetate  of  potash,  gives  the  oil  of  pears.  The  oil  of  apples 
is  made  from  the  same  fusel  oil  by  distillation  with  sulphuric 
acid  and  bichromate  of  potash.  The  oil  of  pine-apples  is 
obtained  from  a  product  of  the  action  of  putrid  cheese  on 
sugar,  or  by  making  a  soap  with  butter,  and  distilling  it 
with  alcohol  and  sulphuric  acid,  and  is  now  largly  employed 
in  England  in  the  preparation  of  pine-apple  ale.  Oil  of 
grapes  and  oil  of  cognac,  used  to  impart  the  flavour  of 
French  cognac  to  British  brandy,  are  little  else  than  fusel 
oil.  The  artificial  oil  of  bitter  almonds,  now  so  largely  em¬ 
ployed  in  perfuming  soap  and  for  flavouring  confectionary, 
is  prepared  by  the  action  of  nitric  acid  on  the  foetid  oils  of 
gas-tar.  Many  a  fair  forehead  is  damped  with  eau  de  mille- 
fleurs,  without  knowing  that  its  essential  ingredient  is  de¬ 
rived  from  the  drainage  of  cowhouses.  The  winter-green 
oil,  imported  from  New  Jersey,  being  produced  from  a  plant 
indigenous  there,  is  artificially  made  from  willows  and  a 
body  procured  in  the  distillation  of  wood.  All  these  are 
direct  modern  appliances  of  science  to  an  industrial  purpose, 
and  imply  an  acquaintance  with  the  highest  investigations 
of  organic  Chemistry.  Let  us  recollect  that  the  oil  of 


136  ON  THE  CHEMICAL  PRINCIPLES  INVOLVED 

lemons,  turpentine,  oil  of  juniper,  oil  of  roses,  oil  of  co¬ 
paiba,  oil  of  rosemary,  and  many  other  oils,  are  identical 
in  composition,  and  it  is  not  difficult  to  conceive  that  per¬ 
fumery  may  derive  still  further  aid  from  Chemistry. 

Candles.* 

The  manufacture  of  candles  has  recently  been  much  im¬ 
proved  by  the  aid  of  Chemistry.  Tallow  candles,  or  their 
more  expensive  substitute,  wax,  were  generally  used  till 
within  the  last  twenty  years.  The  tallow  itself  was  long 
very  impure,  containing  cellular  tissue,  which  was  only 
partially  removed  in  the  form  of  a  scum,  known  as  “crack¬ 
lings.”  This  impurity  rendered  the  light  unsteady,  and 
obstructed  the  wick.  The  old  method  of  purification  still 
largely  used  in  this  country,  though  superseded  on  the  con¬ 
tinent  and  in  Dublin,  whence  such  good  tallow  candles  were 
exhibited,  has  been  displaced  by  a  process  of  treating  with 
sulphuric  acid  the  tallow  melted  by  steam.  Much  of  the 
smell  is  thus  removed,  and  a  larger  amount  of  a  purer  tallow 
is  obtained.  The  researches  of  Chevreul  had  shown  that 
fats  consist  of  fatty  acids,  combined  with  a  kind  of  sugar 
named  glycerin,  which  it  was  important  to  remove  ;  this 
glycerin,  removed  in  candle-making,  is  now  used  as  lini¬ 
ments  in  cutaneous  affections,  and  is  employed  as  a  remedy 
in  deafness  and  rheumatism.  By  boiling  with  lime,  an  in¬ 
soluble  soap  is  formed,  while  the  glycerin  remains  dissolved 
in  the  water.  This  lime-soap,  decomposed  by  a  stronger 
acid,  yields  the  fatty  acids  in  a  purer  state.  But  there  are 
generally  two  solid  acids  mixed  with  a  fluid  one;  and  the 
latter  is  easily  removed  by  pressure,  the  solid  fats  remain¬ 
ing.  The  solid  acids  are  made  into  the  beautiful  candles 
erroneously  called  “stearine.”  Various  difficulties  occurred 
in  this  manufacture.  The  solid  acids,  crystallizing  rapidly, 
were  ill  adapted  for  candles;  but  the  introduction  of  arsenic 
in  small  quantity  prevented  the  crystallization.  The  public 
were  justly  alarmed  at  this  dangerous  practice,  and  the 

*  I  have  had  the  advantage  of  seeing  the  admirable  Report  cf 
Jury  XXIX.,  and  have  availed  myself,  with  permission  of  its 
author,  of  some  new  information  contained  in  it. 


IN  THE  MANUFACTURES  OF  TIIE  EXHIBITION.  137 

manufacture  was  threatened  with  extinction,  when  it  was 
found  that  a  small  per-centage  of  wax  produced  the  same 
effect,  and  that  large  crystals  might  even  be  prevented  by 
a  careful  regulation  of  the  temperature.  This  evil  was 
therefore  avoided;  but  a  more  serious  one  arose.  The 
ashes  of  the  wicks,  becoming  heated,  cause  the  fatty  acids 
to  splutter ;  and  this  was  a  grave  inconvenience.  These 
ashes,  however,  form  a  fusible  glass  with  borax;  so  the 
wicks  are  dipped  into  a  solution  of  this  salt,  and  the  diffi¬ 
culty  is  removed;  a  salt  of  bismuth  is  also  used  for  this* 
purpose.  Snuffers,  however,  are  always  troublesome,  and 
a  self-snuffing  candle  was  an  important  want.  Chemists 
have  told  us  that  flame  is  hollow,  its  centre  containing  no 
oxygen  capable  of  supporting  combustion;  and  the  wick, 
being  in  the  hollow  part,  excluded  from  the  air  by  its  fiery 
prison,  is  charred,  and  diminishes  the  light.  If  the  wick 
could  be  made  to  turn  outwards,  it  would  reach  the  exterior 
air  and  be  consumed,  whilst  the  glass  formed  by  the  action 
of  the  borax  on  its  ashes  would  also  be  removed.  This 
beautiful  scientific  fact  was  attained  by  the  introduction  of 
plaited  and  twisted  wicks,  the  tension  of  the  threads  forcing 
the  wick  to  curl  outwards  to  the  exterior  of  the  flame, 
where  it  is  rapidly  burned. 

Another  great  improvement  now  took  place.  In  prepar¬ 
ing  the  commercial  stearine  from  palm-oil  or  tallow,  it  is 
essential  to  remove  the  glycerin,  and  this  had  been  accom¬ 
plished  by  saponifying  them  with  alkalies.  Sulphuric  acid, 
acting  on  fats,  unites  with  the  oily  acids  and  with  glycerin; 
the  former  compounds  are  decomposed  by  water  and  become 
insoluble,  while  the  latter,  from  being  soluble,  is  removed ; 
the  oily  acids,  blackened  with  the  destroyed  orgauic  impuri¬ 
ties,  are  now  distilled,  and  it  is  found  that  a  jet  of  steam, 
heated  somewhat  in  the  manner  of  the  hot  blast,  aids  their 
distillation,  the  fatty  acids  passing  over  in  a  comparatively 
pure  form,  while  the  residual  black  resinous  matter  is  made 
into  black  sealing-wax.  Candles  may  now  be  made  from 
the  distilxed  fatty  acids  at  once,  or  they  may  be  pressed  to 
regiove  the  oleic  acids. 

The  oleic  acid,  both  from  this  mode  of  manufacture  and 
from  that  by  alkaline  saponification,  is  principally  exported 
to  France,  where  it  is  made  into  a  hard  soap.  In  this 
12* 


138  ON  THE  CHEMICAL  PRINCIPLES  INVOLVED 

country  we  have  yet  to  acquire  the  method  of  doing  this. 
The  excellence  of  the  acid  saponification  is,  that  it  is  ap¬ 
plicable  to  palm-oil  and  to  the  most  impure  and  foetid  fats ; 
by  its  means,  the  finest  candles  may  be  made  from  the  waste 
of  the  glue-maker  and  from  the  oily  residues  obtained  by 
the  decomposition  of  the  waste  lyes  of  the  woollen  manu¬ 
facturer  and  the  bleacher.  As  the  first  beautiful  process 
of  saponification  sprang  from  the  abstract  researches  of 
Chevreul,  so  has  the  last  elegant  method  arisen  from  the 
‘  scientific  investigations  of  Fremy,  although  both  of  them 
have  been  reduced  to  practice,  with  many  improvements,  by 
the  manufacturers  themselves.  The  importance  of  the 
manufacture  may  be  understood  when  I  state  that  one  com¬ 
pany  (Price’s  Candle  Company)  possesses  cocoa-nut  planta¬ 
tions  in  Ceylon,  and  employs  eight  hundred  workmen  in  its 
five  manufactories  in  London,  using  a  capital  of  nearly  half 
a  million,  and  dividing  profits  to  the  extent  of  40,000?.  per 
annum. 

Chemistry  has  not  yet  done  so  much  for  the  manufacture 
of  wax  candles  as  might  have  been  anticipated.  Wax  is 
still  bleached  by  exposure  to  air  and  light,  and  the  operation 
has  been  hastened  more  by  mechanical  than  by  chemical 
contrivances;  the  bleaching  of  wax  is  a  tedious  and  often  a 
difficult  process,  and  demands  greater  attention  from  chemists 
than  it  has  received;  the  Brazilian  mahogany-coloured  wax, 
produced  by  a  black  bee  hiving  under-ground,  has  not  yet 
been  bleached  by  the  sun,  and  might  be  imported  in  con¬ 
siderable  quantity  if  Chemistry  offered  means  for  removing 
its  colour.  I  do  not  allude  to  what  Chemistry  offers  to  do, 
but  it  would  appear  that  paraffin  and  oil  from  coal,  and 
possibly  from  peat,  may  dispense,  to  a  certain  extent,  with 
the  necessity  for  sperm-whale  fishing. 


C0AL-GrAS. 

The  manufacture  of  coal-gas  is  an  admirable  example  of 
the  benefits  conferred  by  Chemistry  in  all  the  three  divisions 
of  its  uses ;  for  it  not  only  lias  economized  human  power 
and  time,  but  it  has  utilized  all  the  products  employed  in 
removing  its  impurities.  Coal-gas  was  only  introduced  to 
use  at  the  beginning  of  this  century,  and  the  public  preju- 


IN  THE  MANUFACTURES  OF  THE  EXHIBITION.  139 

dice  which  had  to  be  overcome,  and  the  difficulties  to  be 
surmounted  in  its  actual  manufacture,  may  still  be  remem¬ 
bered  by  many  of  my  hearers.  It  was  no  mean  innovation 
to  replace  tallow  candles  and  oil  lamps  by  an  air  streaming 
through  pipes,  but  the  difficulties  attending  its  purification 
from  noxious  ingredients  appeared  even  more  insuperable 
than  to  reconcile  the  public  to  the  innovation  :  the  gas  had 
an  insupportably  foetid  odour,  and  certainly  injured  health 
when  burned;  it  discoloured  the  curtains,  tarnished  the 
metals,  eat  otf  the  backs  of  books,  and  covered  everything 
with  its  fuming  smoke.  It  required  a  man  of  courage,  as 
indomitable  as  Winsor,  its  great  advocate,  to  persuade  the 
public  to  continue  its  use  until  means  were  found  for  the 
removal  of  these  noxious  qualities.  Here  Chemistry,  itself 
the  father  of  the  manufacture,  was  called  in  consultation. 
The  impurities  in  the  gas  are  sulphuretted  hydrogen,  which 
tarnished  the  metals,  and  with  sulphuret  of  carbon  produced 
sulphureous  fumes;  ammoniacal  compounds,  which  changed 
the  colours  of  dyes  and  acted  on  leather ;  tarry  vapours, 
which  caused  the  deposition  of  soot;  and  all  these  had  to  be 
removed.  The  ammonia  and  the  tar  were  partially  con¬ 
densed  in  tubes  kept  cool,  the  sulphuretted  hydrogen  and 
carbonic  acid  were  removed  by  lime,  and  the  ammonia  by 
washing  the  gas  with  water.  This  last  operation  was  the 
least  effective,  and  new  substitutes  had  to  be  devised,  one 
of  which  I  may  mention;  superphosphate  of  lime,  consisting 
of  bones  dissolved  in  sulphuric  acid,  only  required  ammonia 
to  make  it  a  powerful  and  excellent  manure;  trays  of  this 
superphosphate  were  therefore  placed  in  a  chamber  through 
which  the  gas  passed,  and  thus  the  ammonia  was  removed, 
while  the  phosphate  became  enriched.  A  new  method  is 
now  extensively  employed,  and  shows  the  tendency  to  sim¬ 
plification  resulting  from  discovery.  By  this  method  almost 
all  the  conditions  of  purification  are  satisfied  by  one  process; 
the  gas,  after  cooling,  is  at  once  taken  into  a  chamber  con¬ 
taining  carbonate  of  lime  and  sulphate  of  iron;  these,  re¬ 
acting  upon  each  other,  produce  oxide  of  iron  and  sulphate 
of  lime.  The  gas,  streaming  through  this  mixture,  gives  up 
its  sulphuretted  hydrogen  to  the  oxide  of  iron,  while  the 
carbonate  of  ammonia,  decomposing  the  lime  salt,  forms 
sulphate  of  ammonia  and  carbonate  of  lime,  the  lime  thus 


14P  ON  THE  CHEMICAL  PRINCIPLES  INVOLVE!) 

being  reconverted  to  its  original  state ;  the  gas  before  being 
passed  into  this  mixture  is  occasionally  led  through  chloride 
of  calcium  in  order  to  aid  the  removal  of  the  ammoniacal 
salt.  When  the  mixture  has  done  its  work  it  is  exposed  to 
air,  and  the  sulphide  of  iron  absorbing  oxygen  is  converted 
into  a  basic  sulphate  of  iron ;  hence  the  mixture  is  similar 
in  its  purifying  character,  except  that  it  contains  sulphate 
of  ammonia,  which  may  be  washed  out  and  preserved,  while 
the  residue  is  employed  over  and  over  again.  By  this  ele¬ 
gant  process  the  noxious  sulphur  compounds  are  utilized  in 
the  fabrication  of  sulphate  of  ammonia,  and  the  mixture 
seems  never  weary  of  performing  its  duty;  hence  not  only 
is  the  purification  performed  at  one  process,  but  the  noxious 
ingredients  are  converted  into  compounds  of  much  value. 
The  waste  and  badly -smelling  products  of  gas-making  ap¬ 
peared  almost  too  bad  and  foetid  for  utilization,  and  yet  every 
one  of  them,  Chemistry,  in  its  thriftiness,  has  made  almost 
indispensable  to  human  progress;  the  badly-smelling  tar 
yields  benzole,  an  ethereal  body  of  great  solvent  powers,  well 
adapted  for  preparing  varnishes,  used  largely  for  making  oil 
of  bitter  almonds,  of  value  for  removing  grease-spots,  and 
for  cleansing  soiled  white  kid  gloves.  The  same  tar  gives 
naphtha,  so  important  as  a  solvent  of  Indian  rubber  and 
gutta  percha;  similar  tar,  when  made  from  wood,  yields 
creosote,  a  powerful  preservative  of  animal  matter,  and 
much  employed  as  a  medicinal  agent.  Coal-tar  furnishes 
the  chief  ingredient  of  printer’s  ink,  in  the  form  of  lamp¬ 
black;  it  substitutes  asphalte  for  pavements;  it  forms  a 
charcoal  when  mixed  with  red-hot  clay,  that  acts  as  a 
powerful  disinfectant.  When  the  tar  is  mixed  with  the 
coal-dust,  formerly  wasted  in  mining  operations,  it  forms  by 
pressure  an  excellent  and  compact  artificial  fuel;  the  water, 
condensed  with  the  tar,  contains  much  ammonia,  readily 
convertible  into  sulphate  of  ammonia,  a  salt  now  recognised 
as  being  of  great  importance  to  agriculture,  and  employed 
in  many  of  the  arts.  Cyanides  are  also  present  among  the 
products  of  distillation,  and  these  are  readily  converted  into 
the  beautiful  colour  known  as  Prussian  blue.  The  naphtha¬ 
line,  an  enemy  to  the  gas-manufacturer  by  choking  the 
pipes,  may  be  made  into  a  beautiful  red  colouring  matter, 
closely  resembling  that  from  madder.  This,  by  its  trans- 


IN  TIIE  MANUFACTURES  OF  THE  EXHIBITION.  141 

formation,  promises  an  important,  though  hitherto  not  yet 
realized  useful  product.  Goal,  when  distilled  at  a  lower 
temperature  than  that  required  to  form  gas,  produces  an  oil 
containing  paraffin,  largely  used  as  an  antifrictional  oil  for 
light  machinery. 

In  the  isolated  cases  of  manufactures,  adduced  as  types 
of  the  importance  of  chemical  appliances  to  industry,  I  have 
referred  to  general  subjects  rather  than  to  individual  objects 
in  the  Exhibition ;  because  these  Lectures  ought,  in  obe¬ 
dience  to  the  desire  of  their  lloyal  suggester,  to  be  indica¬ 
tions  of  consequences  rather  than  references  to  special 
excellencies.  The  illustrations  have  been  restricted  to 
Chemistry,  not  that  I  unduly  exalt  its  importance,  but 
that  we  are  wisely  instructed  to  confine  our  attention  to  the 
branch  of  knowledge  most  familiar  to  us.  All  these  in¬ 
stances,  however,  are  real  consequential  supports  of  a  text 
which  has  already  been  discussed  in  its  general  bearings  in 
another  Lecture. *  The  text  was  this, — that  the  progress 
of  abstract  science  is  of  extreme  importance  to  a  nation  de¬ 
pending  upon  its  manufactures.  It  is  only  the  overflowings 
of  science,  arising  from  the  very  fulness  of  its  measure, 
that  benefit  industry.  When  water  falls  from  a  higher  to  a 
lower  point,  it,  to  a  certain  extent,  increases  the  velocity  of 
rotation  of  the  earth,  and  the  sum  of  the  increments  of  the 
velocity  of  all  falling  waters  would  soon  be  sensible,  were 
it  not  that  the  sun,  lapping  them  up,  restores  them  to  their 
sources,  and  by  removing  them  farther  from  the  centre, 
compensates  for  the  increased  velocity  given  in  one  locality ; 
while  at  the  same  time  they  fertilize  the  lands  on  which 
they  fall.  So  is  it  with  Science  and  Industry.  The  over¬ 
flowings  of  abstract  Science  give  their  first  impulse  to  the 
country  producing  them ;  but  the  Sun  of  knowledge  soon 
raises  and  distributes  them  to  all  lands,  which  receive  bene¬ 
fit  in  just  so  far  as  the  ground  is  prepared  for  their  fer¬ 
tilizing  influence.  The  discoverer  of  abstract  laws,  however 
apparently  remote  from  practice,  is  the  real  benefactor  to 
Ins  kind ;  in  reality,  far  more  so  than  he  who  applies  them 
directly  to  industry.  Yet  in  our  Mammon-worship  we 

*  “On  the  National  Importance  of  Studying  Abstract  Science 
with  a  view  to  the  Healthy  Progress  of  Industry.”  By  Lyon  Play¬ 
fair,  C.B.F.R..S. — H.  M.  Stationery  Office. 


142  ON  THE  CHEMICAL  PRINCIPLES  INVOLVED 

adore  the  golden  calf  and  do  not  see  its  real  creator.  It 
is  abstract  and  not  practical  Science  that  is  the  lite  and  soul 
of  Industry ;  practical  appliances  are  the  organs  through 
which  the  *God-born  truths  pass  for  the  sustenance  of  its 
general  frame.  The  cultivators  of  abstract  Science,  the 
searchers  after  truth,  for  eternal  truth’s  own  sake,  are— to 
borrow  a  simile,  I  believe,  of  Canning  the  horses  of  the 
chariot  of  industry ;  those  who  usefully  apply  the  truths  are 
the  harness  by  which  the  motion  is  communicated  to  the 
chariot.  But  is  the  chariot  drawn  by  the  horses  or  the 
harness  ?  Truth  to  say,  in  this  country  of  ours,— and  mark 
you  well,  in  no  other  country  in  Europe,  we  honoui  the 
harness,  but  neglect  the  horses.  It  is  the  harness  that  is 
gilt*  the  hard-working  horses  too  often  receive  but  meagre 
fare.  Now,  in  all  this,  I  tell  you  a  living  truth j  one  far 
more  connected  with  the  actual  material  progress  of  our 
nation  than  you  may  be  aware  of.  The  published  opinions 
of  Babbage  and  Herschel,  men  who  have  a  right  to  pro¬ 
nounce  judgment  on  this  subject,  assure  us  that  England  is 
rapidly  declining  in  Science.  It  is  most  important  that  we 
should  ascertain  the  real  cause  of  this  decline.  The  cause 
would  appear  to  be,  that  we  chiefly  honour  those  who  aie 
useful  in  our  time  and  generation ;  that  our  eyes  are  too 
eagerly  bent  upon  the  golden  prize,  for  which  we  are  all 
running ;  and  that  we  can  only  afford  to  throw  a  kind  of 
theoretical  squint  of  recognition  on  those  men,  who  are 
looking  for  sublime  truths,  careless  as  to  whether  they  will 
have  any  immediate  effect  on  industrial  progress..  And  yet 
it  is  these  very  men  that  give  strength  to  the  sinews  of  a 
future  generation,  enabling  it  to  keep  its  place  in  the  in¬ 
dustrial  struggle  of  nations.  Bo  not  misunderstand  me. 
Science  never  looks  so  beautiful  as  when  she  aids  man  to 
increase  his  resources  and  comforts j  but  the  dove  would 
not  have  brought  the  olive-branch  to  the  ark  of  man  s 
hopes  unless  she  had  been  able  to  take  a  higher  and  longci 
flight  than  that  embraced  in  the  tree  whence  she  came. 

It  is  no  new  truth  that  both  abstract  Science  and  Ait 
should  have  a  position  intimately  allied  with,  but  still 
thoroughly  independent  of,  Industry.  I  read  mythology 
wrongly,  unless  this  is  strongly  shadowed  out  in  the  histoiy 
of  the  gods.  Vulcan,  the  god  of  Industry,  wooed  Mineiva 


IN  THE  MANUFACTURES  OF  THE  EXHIBITION.  143 

with  a  passionate  love,  but  the  chaste  goddess  never  mar¬ 
ried,  keeping  always  independent,  although  no  celestial  ever 
showered  so  many  benefits  on  the  peaceful  arts.  Artistic 
beauty,  in  the  person  of  Venus,  was  really  wedded  to  Vul¬ 
can,  but  this  ill-assorted  union  was  not  a  happy  one,  and 
Venus  often  repented  the  alliance. 

Take  the  case  of  any  philosopher,  the  most  separate  from 
human  sympathies  and  enjoyments,  and  you  will  find  that 
from  him,  though  not  through  him,  have  sprung  numerous 
appliances  for  their  gratification.  The  very  impersonification 
of  abstract  Science  was  Cavendish,  as  described  by  his  bi¬ 
ographer,*  although  fortunately  for  the  world,  such  total 
abstraction  from  human  sympathies  does  not  frequently 
exist.  “  lie  did  not  love ;  he  did  not  hate ;  he  did  not 
hope ;  he  did  not  fear ;  he  did  not  worship  as  others  do. 
He  separated  himself  from  his  fellow- men,  and  apparently 
from  God.  There  was  nothing  earnest,  enthusiastic,  heroic, 
or  chivalrous  in  his  nature,  and  as  little  was  there  anything 
mean,  grovelling,  or  ignoble.  He  was  almost  passionless. 

.  .  .  An  intellectual  head  thinking,  a  pair  of  wonderfully 
acute  eyes  observing,  and  a  pair  of  very  skilful  hands  ex¬ 
perimenting  or  recording,  are  all  that  I  realize  in  reading 
his  memorials.  His  brain  seems  to  have  been  but  a  calcu¬ 
lating-engine  ;  his  eyes  inlets  of  vision,  not  fountains  of 
tears ;  his  hands  instruments  of  manipulation,  which  never 
trembled  with  emotion,  or  never  clasped  together  in  adora¬ 
tion,  thanksgiving,  or  despair;  his  heart  only  an  anatomical 
organ,  necessary  for  the  circulation  of  the  blood.”  Yet 
this  man,  destitute  of  passions  and  of  sympathies — who, 
during  his  body  life,  poured  down  light  upon,  without 
warming,  the  world — has  by  his  mind,  which  still  lives, 
conferred  more  real  material  benefit  upon  Industry  than  any 
of  the  so-termed  “  practical”  men  who  have  succeeded  him. 
His  discovery  of  the  composition  of  water  has  given  to  In¬ 
dustry  a  vitality  and  an  intelligence,  the  effects  of  which  it 
would  be  difficult  to  exaggerate. 

I  have  shown  in  my  former  Lecture,  that  a  rapid  transi¬ 
tion  is  taking  place  in  Industry;  that  the  raw  material, 
formerly  our  capital  advantage  over  other  nations,  is  gra- 

*  “  Life  of  Cavendish,”  by  Dr.  Wilson,  p.  185. 


144  ON  THE  CHEMICAL  PRINCIPLES  INVOLVED 

dually  being  equalized  in  price,  and  made  available  to  all 
bv  the  improvements  in  locomotion  ;  and  that  industry  must 
in  future  be  supported,  not  by  a  competition  of  local  aman- 
tages,  but  by  a  competition  of  intellect.  All  European 
nations,  except  England,  have  recognised  this  fact;  then- 
thinking  men  have  proclaimed  it ;  their  governments  have 
adopted" it  as  a  principle  of  state;  and  every  town  has  now 
its  schools,  in  which  are  taught  the  scientific  princip.es  in¬ 
volved  in  manufactures,  while  each  metropolis  rejoices  in 
an  Industrial  University,  teaching  how  to  use  the  alphabet 
of  Science  in  reading  Manufactures  aright.  Were  there  any 
effects  observed  in  the  Exhibition  from  this  intellectual 
training  of  their  industrial  populations  ?  The  official  reserve, 
necessarily  imposed  upon  me  as  the  Commissioner  appointed 
to  aid  the  Juries,  need  exist  no  longer,  and  from  my  per¬ 
sonal  conviction,  I  answer  without  qualification,  in  the 
affirmative.  The  result  of  the  Exhibition  was  one  that 
England  may  well  be  startled  at.  Wherever  and  that  im¬ 
plies  in  almost  every  manufacture — Science  or. Art  was 
involved  as  an  element  of  progress,  we  saw,  as  an  inevitable 
law,  that  the  nation  which  most  cultivated  them  was  in  the 
ascendant.  Our  manufacturers  were  justly  astonished,  at 
seeing  most  of  the  foreign  countries  rapidly  approaching 
and  sometimes  excelling  us  in  manufactures^  our  own  by 
hereditary  and  traditional  right.  Though  certainly  veiy 
superior  in  our  common  cutlery,  we  could  not  claim  decided 
superiority  in  that  applied  to  surgical  instruments;  and 
were  beaten  in  some  kind  of  edgetools.  Neither  our  swords 
nor  our  guns  were  left  with  an  unquestioned  victory.  In 
our  plate-glass,  my  own  opinion — and  I  am  sure  that  of 
many  others — is,  that  if  we  were  not.  beaten  by  Belgium, 
we  certainly  were  by  France.  In  flint-glass,  our  ancient 
prestige  was  left  very  doubtful,  and  the  oidy  important  dis¬ 
coveries  in  this  manufacture  were  not  those  shown  on  the 
English  side.  Belgium,  which  has  deprived  us  of  so  much 
of  our  American  trade  in  woollen  manufacturers,  found  hei- 
self  approached  by  competitors  hitherto  almost  unknown ; 
for  Russia  had  risen  to  eminence  in  this  branch,  and  the 
German  woollens  did  not  shame  their  birthplace.  In  silver¬ 
smith  work  we  had  introduced  a  large  number  of  foreign 
workmen  as  modellers  and  designers ;  but,  nevertheless,  wo 


IN  THE  MANUFACTURES  OF  THE  EXHIBITION.  145 


met  with  worthy  competitors.  In  calico-printing  and  paper- 
staining  our  designs  looked  wonderfully  French ;  whilst  our 
colours,  though  generally  as  brilliant  in  themselves,  did  not 
appear  to  nearly  so  much  advantage,  from  a  want  of  harmony 
in  their  arrangement.  In  earthenware  we  were  masters,  as 
of  old;  but  in  china  and  in  porcelain  our  general  exellence 
was  stoutly  denied;  although  individual  exellencies  were 
very  apparent.  In  hardware  we  maintained  our  superiority, 
but  were  manifestly  surprised  at  the  rapid  advances  making 
by  many  other  nations.  Do  not  let  us  nourish  our  national 
vanity  by  fondly  congratulating  ourselves  that,  as  on  the 
whole  we  were  successful,  we  had  little  to  fear.  I  believe 
this  is  not  the  opinion  of  most  candid  and  intelligent  ob¬ 
servers. .  It  is  a  grave  matter  for  reflection,  whether  the 
Exhibition  did  not  show  very  clearly  and  distinctly  that  the 
rate  of  industrial  advance  of  many  European  nations,  even 
of  those  who  were  obviously  in  our  rear,  was  at  a  greater 
rate  than  our  own;  and  if  it  were  so,  as  I  believe  it  to 
have  been,  it  does  not  require  much  acumen  to  perceive 
that  in  a  long  race  the  fastest-sailing  ships  will  win, 
even  though  they  are  for  a  time  behind.  The  Exhibition 
will  have  produced  infinite  good,  if  we  are  compelled  as  a 
nation  to  acknowledge  this  truth.  The  Roman  empire 
fell  rapidly,  because,  nourishing  its  national  vanity,  it  re¬ 
fused  the  lessons  of  defeat,  and  construed  them  into 
victories.  All  the  visiters,  both  foreign  and  British,  were 
agreed  upon  one  point,  that,  whichever  might  be  the 
first  of  the  exhibiting  nations,  regarding  which  there  were 
many  opinions,  that  certainly  our  great  rival,  France,  was 
the  second.  Let  us  hope  that  in  this  there  is  no  historical 
parallel.  After  the  battle  of  Salamis  the  generals,  though 
claiming  for  each  other  the  first  consideration  as  to  general¬ 
ship,  unanimously  admitted  that  Themistocles  deserved  the 
second :  and  the  world,  ever  since,  as  Smith  remarks,  has 
accepted  this  as  a  proof  that  Themistocles  was,  beyond  all 
question,  the  first  general.  Let  us  acknowledge  our  defeats 
when  they  are  real,  and  our  English  character  and  energy 
will  make  them  victories  on  another  occasion.  But  our 


great  danger  is,  that,  in  our  national  vanity,  we  should 
exult  in  our  conquests,  forgetting  our  defeats;  though  I 


13 


146  ON  THE  CHEMICAL  PRINCIPLES  INVOLVED 

have  much  confidence  that  the  truthfulness  of  our  nation  Mill 
save  us  from  this  peril.  A  competition  in  Industiy  must, 
in  an  advanced  stage  of  civilization,  be  a  competition  of  in¬ 
tellect.  The  influence  of  capital  may  purchase  you  for  a 
time  foreign  talent.  Our  Manchester  calico-printers  may, 
and  do,  keep  foreign  designers  in  France  at  liberal  salaries. 
Our  glass-works  may,  and  do,  buy  foreign  science  to  aid 
them  in  their  management.  Our  potteries  may,  and  do, 
use  foreign  talent  both  in  management  and  design.  Oui 
silversmiths  and  diamond-setters  may,  and  do,  depend  much 
upon  foreign  talent  in  art  and  foreign  skill  in  execution , 
but  is  all  this  not  a  suicidal  policy,  which  must  have  a  ter¬ 
mination,  not  for  the  individual  manufacturer,  wdio  wisely 
buys  the  talent  wherever  he  can  get  it,  but  for  the  nation, 
which,  careless  of  the  education  of  her  sons,  sends  our  capital 
abroad  as  a  premium  to  that  intellectual  progress  which,  in 
our  present  apathy,  is  our  greatest  danger  ? 

It  is  well  to  inquire,  in  what  we  are  so  deficient,  and  what 
is  the  reason  of  this  deficiency.  Assuredly  it  does  not  con¬ 
sist  in  the  absence  of  public  philanthropy  or  want  of  private 
zeal  for  education,  but  chiefly  rests  in  that  education  being 
utterly  unsuited  to  the  wants  of  the  age.  In  the  thirteenth 
and  fourteenth  centuries  classical  learning  was,  after  its  re¬ 
vival,  highly  esteemed :  and  its  language  became  the  com¬ 
mon  medium  for  expression  in  all  nations.  A  thorough 
acquaintance  with  it  was  an  absolute  necessity  to  any  one 
with  pretensions  to  learning.  It  had  a  glorious  literature, 
one  as  fresh  as  when  it  grew  on  the  rich  soils  of  Ptome  and 
Greece.  Its  truths  were  eternal,  and  were  received  by  us  in 
their  traditional  mythology,  as  Bacon  beautifully  says,  like 
11  the  breath  and  purer  spirit  of  the  earliest  knowledge  float¬ 
ing  to  us  in  tones  made  musical  by  Grecian  flutes.  ’  And 
why  was  that  bew'itcliing  literature  made  the  groundwork  of 
our  educational  systems  ?  Does  it  not  show  that  literature, 
like  art,  may  have  a  standard  excellence ;  and  that  we  are 
content  to  imitate  where  we  cannot  surpass.  It  the  main 
object  of  life  were  to  fabricate  literati,  I  would  not  dispute 
the  wisdom  of  making  classics  the  groundwork  of  our  educa¬ 
tion.  They  are  not  utterly  dead,  but,  like  the  dry  bones  of 
the  valley,  they  may  come  together,  and  have  breathed  into 
them  the  breath  of  life.  In  the  world  there  is  a  constant 


IN  TIIE  MANUFACTURES  OF  THE  EXHIBITION.  147 


system  of  regeneration.  Theoi’ies  exist  for  a  time,  but  like 
the  phoenix,  are  destroyed,  and  rise  yet  more  glorious  from 
their  ashes.  Animals  die,  and  by  their  decay  pass  into  the 
atmosphere,  whence  vegetables  derive  their  nutriment,  and 
thus  death  becomes  the  source  of  life.  But  in  all  this  there 
is  no  incongruity.  A  phoenix  does  not  from  its  ashes  pro¬ 
duce  an  eagle,  but  a  phoenix  as  before.  The  dry  bones  of 
dead  Literature  may  vivify  into  new  forms  of  literary  life. 
Classical  Literature  and  exact  Science  are,  however,  wholly 
antithetic.  If  classical  Literature  be  sufficient  to  construct 
your  spinning-jennies  and  bleach  your  cottons,  your  system 
of  instruction  is  right ;  but  if  you  are  to  be  braced,  and 
your  sinews  strengthened,  for  a  hard  struggle  of  industry,  is 
it  wise  that  you  should  devour  poetry,  while  your  competi¬ 
tors  eat  that  which  forms  the  muscles  and  gives  vigour  to 
the  sinews  ?  With  such  different  trainings,  who  in  the  end 
will  win  the  race  ?  Science  has  not,  like  Literature  and  Art, 
a  standard  of  excellence.  It  is  as  infinite  as  the  wisdom  of 
God,  from  whom  it  emanates.  All  ordinary  powers  decrease 
as  you  depart  from  the  centre;  but  the  power  of  knowledge 
augments  the  farther  it  is  removed  from  the  human  source 
from  which  it  was  transmitted.  God  has  given  to  man  much 
mental  gratification  in  trying  to  understand  and  apply  to 
human  uses  His  laws.  The  great  philosopher  of  Scripture 
has  said,  “  It  is  the  glory  of  God  to  conceal  a  tiling,  but  the 
honour  of  kings  to  search  out  a  matter.”  The  poet-prophet 
of  the  Bible  has  also  told  us,  that  God  “  turneth  wise  men 
backward,  and  maketh  their  knowledge  foolish.”  And, 
therefore,  as  surely  as  He  is  infinite  and  man  finite,  until 
earth  passes  away,  you  will  have  no  human  standard  of 
scientific  knowledge.  As  this  is  so,  how  can  we  as  a  nation 
expect  to  carry  on  those  manufactures  by  our  sons  of  Indus¬ 
try,  when  we  do  not  teach  them  the  nature  of  the  principles 
involved  in  their  successful  prosecution  '(  Solace  ourselves 
as  we  will  with  vain  thoughts  of  our  gigantic  position  among 
nations — Greece  was  higher  than  we  are,  and  where  is  she 
now  ?  It  does  not  require  a  lofty  stature  to  see  the  farthest ; 
for  a  dwarf  on  the  shoulders  of  a  giant  sees  farther  than  the 
giant, — not  that  he  is  less  a  dwarf,  but  that  he  has  added 
the  giant’s  height  to  his  own.  The  Exhibition  showed  us 
many  small  States  which  had  thus  raised  themselves  on  the 


148  ON  THE  CHEMICAL  PRINCIPLES  INVOLVED 


shoulders  of  Science  within  the  last  few  years,  while  we  are 
merely  hovering  about  its  skirts.  Let  us  take  care  that  our 
excess  of  pride  in  the  so-termed  “ practical”  power  of  our 
population  may  not  be  punished  as  Arachne  was  of  old. 
Arachne  was  wonderfully  skilled  in  needle-work,  but  pre¬ 
sumptuously  challenged  Minerva  to  a  trial  of  skill.  What 
chance  was  there  in  such  an  unequal  contest  ?  Minerva 
united  Science  to  her  handicraft  skill,  and  this  combination 
insured  success.  Arachne  was  justly  cast  from  her  proud 
position  among  mortals  by  being  changed  into  a  spider,  ever 
spinning  the  same  web  in  the  same  way, — the  same  for 
wintry  blasts  as  for  gentle  summer  zephyrs. 

“  You  have  excelled  all  other  people  in  the  products  of 
Industry.  But  why  ?  Because  you  have  assisted  Industry 
by  Science.  Bo  not  regard  as  indifferent  what  is  your  true 
and  greatest  glory.  Except  in  these  respects,  in  what  are 
you  superior  to  Athens  and  Rome  ?  Do  you  carry  away 
from  them  the  palm  in  literature  and  the  fine  arts  ?  Do 
you  not  rather  glory,  and  justly  too,  in  being,  in  these  re¬ 
respects,  their  imitators?  Is  it  not  demonstrated  by  the 
nature  of  your  system  of  public  education  and  by  your  pop¬ 
ular  amusements  ?  In  what,  then,  are  you  their  superiors  ? 
In  everything  connected  with  physical  Science ;  with  the 
experimental  arts.  These  are  your  characteristics.  Do  not 
neglect  them.  You  have  a  Newton,  who  is  the  glory,  not 
only  of  your  own  country,  but  of  the  human  race.  You  have 
a  Bacon,  whose  precepts  may  still  be  attended  to  with  ad¬ 
vantage.  Shall  Englishmen  slumber  in  that  path  which 
these  great  men  have  opened,  and  be  overtaken  by  their 
neighbours  ?  Say,  rather,  that  all  assistance  shall  be  given 
to  their  efforts  ;  that  they  shall  be  attended  to,  encouraged, 
and  supported.” — (Davy.) 

All  the  aspirations  of  youth  are  towards  Science,  especi¬ 
ally  that  depending  on  observation,  but  we  quench  the  God- 
born  flame  by  “  freezing  drenches  of  scholastic  lore.”  In 
the  language  of  “Eothen,”  “You  feel  so  keenly  the  delights 
of  early  knowledge  !  You  form  strange  mystic  friendships 
with  the  mere  names  of  mountains,  and  seas,  and  continents, 
and  mighty  rivers;  you  learn  the  ways  of  the  planets  and 
transcend  their  narrow  limits,  and  ask  for  the  end  of  space ; 
you  vex  the  electric  cylinder  till  it  yields  you,  for  your  toy 


IN  THE  MANUFACTURES  OF  THE  EXHIBITION.  149 

to  play  with,  that  subtle  fire  in  which  our  earth  was  forged. 
You  know  of  the  nations  that  have  towered  high  in  the 
world,  and  the  lives  of  men  who  have  saved  whole  empires 
from  oblivion.  What  more  will  you  ever  learn  ?  Yet  the 
dismal  change  is  ordained,  and  then,  thin  meagre  Latin 
(the  same  for  everybody)  with  small  shreds  and  patches  of 
Greek,  is  thrown,  like  a  pauper’s  pall,  over  all  your  early 
lore ;  instead  of  sweet  knowledge,  vile,  monkish,  doggerel 
grammars  and  graduses,  dictionaries  and  lexicons,  and  hor¬ 
rible  odds  and  ends  of  dead  languages,  are  given  you  for 
your  portion,  and  down  you  fall  from  Roman  story  to  a 
three-inch  scrap  of  1  Scriptores  Romani  ’ — from  Greek 
poetry,  down,  down,  to  the  cold  rations  of  1  Poetce  Greed,’ 
cut  up  by  commentators  and  served  out  by  schoolmasters.” 
Is  this  horrible  quenching  of  all  our  youthful  innate  love 
of  God’s  truth  the  education  for  the  youth  of  a  nation  de¬ 
pending  for  its  country’s  progress  on  their  developement  ? 
IIow  is  it  possible  that  dead  Literature  can  be  the  parent 
of  living  Science  and  of  active  Industry  ? 

I  need  not  explain  myself  as  meaning  that  our  youthful 
aspirations  point  to  science  as  a  fit  means  for  developing  our 
intellectual  capacities,  and  that  boyhood  is  scarcely  the  time 
rudely  to  exercise  all  our  longings  for  an  acquaintance  with 
the  wisdom  of  creation,  or  to  cramp  and  torture  the  mind 
by  the  acquisition  of  dead  languages  to  the  exclusion  of  all 
other  knowledge.  In  quoting  the  beautiful  language  of 
“  E5then,”  I  intend  only  to  express  the  violence  done  to  our 
natural  instincts,  and  not  to  question  the  excellence  of  the 
means  employed  in  teaching  classics.  It  would  ill  become 
me,  or  any  one,  to  speak  disparagingly  of  the  wisdom  to  be 
derived  from  a  study  of  ancient  authors,  or  to  deny  the  im¬ 
mense  importance  of  a  knowledge  of  classical  literature  to 
education  generally  •,  nor  would  I  like  to  see  that  education 
confined  to  stern  realities,  divested  of  the  graces  and  poetry 
of  polite  literature.  But  I  do,  at  the  same  time,  vehemently 
protest  against  the  exhaustion  of  all  our  youthful  years  by  a 
mere  classical  tuition,  especially  in  the  case  of  that  large 
class  of  the  community  who,  by  their  exertions  in  industry, 
have  confided  to  them,  in  a  great  degree,  the  prosperity  of 
their  country.  As  I  do  not  think  the  teaching  of  classical 
literature  as  practised  in  our  schools  to  be  worthy  of  the 
13* 


150  ON  THE  CHEMICAL  PRINCIPLES  INVOLVED 


name  of  education,  neither  do  I  apply  that  title  to  the  com¬ 
munication  of  scientific  knowledge  alone, — and  vou  will 
observe  that  I  have  always  spoken  of  it  by  the  term  “in¬ 
struction.’' — I  am  propounding  no  scheme  of  education,  but 
strongly  insisting  that  instruction  in  science  should  form  an 
important  part  of  the  education  of  our  youth. 

Do  not  conceal  from  yourselves  that  this  is  the  vital 
difficulty  of  the  question.  You  may,  and  I  hope  will,  soon 
raise  an  Industrial  University;  but  this  should  have  its 
pupils  ready  trained  before  it  adopts  them.  Now,  it  must 
from  itself  act  downwards,  instead  of  working  from  the 
schools  upwards.  Until  our  schools  accept  as  a  living  faith 
that  a  study  of  God’s  works  is  more  fitted  to  increase  the 
resources  of  the  nation  than  a  study  of  the  amours  of  Jupi¬ 
ter  or  of  Venus,  our  Industrial  Colleges  will  make  no  ma¬ 
terial  headway  against  those  of  the  Continent.  In  Paris  we 
find  a  Central  College  of  Arts  and  Manufactures,  into  which 
the  students  enter  at  an  average  age  of  nineteen  years, 
already  well  trained  in  the  elements  of  Science,  and  going 
there  to  be  taught  how  to  use  these  elements  for  industrial 
application.  Three  hundred  of  the  best  youth  of  France 
are  annually  receiving  at  this  College  the  most  elaborate 
education,  and  the  best  proof  of  its  practical  value  is  the 
great  demand  among  manufacturers  for  its  pupils,  a  diploma 
from  it  being  equivalent  to  assured  success  in  life.  Can 
you  wonder  at  the  progress  making  by  France  in  industry, 
when  she  pours  every  year  an  hundred  and  fifty  of  these 
highly  educated  manufacturers  into  her  provinces  ?  A 
similar  education  to  this  is  going  on  in  almost  all  parts  of 
Europe;  but  in  England  only  one  such  institution  exists. 
We  have  our  University  and  King’s  College,  it  is  true,  and 
they  are  productive  of  much  good ;  and  similar  Colleges 
exist  in  Scotland  and  Ireland;  but  their  instruction  in 
Science  terminates  just  where  the  Industrial  Colleges  of  the 
Continent  begin.  In  fact,  the  latter  would  be  supplement¬ 
ary  and  a  great  support  to  the  former.  Government,  act¬ 
ing  on  its  own  perception  of  right,  in  its  first  national  re¬ 
cognition  of  these  truths,  now  happily  dawning  on  England, 
has  established  a  School  of  Mines;  and  the  experience  of 
this  has  shown  that  it  is  much  appreciated,  although  it 
labours  under  the  disadvantage  of  the  want  of  a  preliminary 


IN  THE  MANUFACTURES  OF  THE  EXHIBITION.  151 

education  in  its  pupils,  compelling  its  professors,  in  its  com¬ 
mencement,  to  be  more  elementary  in  their  instruction  than 
is  well  compatible  with  the  proper  objects  of  such  a  school. 
Now,  while  I  urge  the  impolicy  of  a  mere  classical  instruc¬ 
tion  to  the  youth  of  this  country  with  all  the  expression 
which  I  can  give  to  a  matured  conviction,  do  not  suppose 
that  I  would  wish  to  put  all  our  youth  in  one  Procrustean 
bed.  I  again  allege,  that  it  is  the  present  system  which 
follows  this  singular  love  of  uniformity,  and  clips  or  ex¬ 
tends  the  dimension  of  each  youth  to  one  common  standard. 
It  is  against  this  very  confined  system  that  I  protest.  I 
think  the  glorious  wisdom  displayed  in  creation,  even  in  the 
limited  extent  to  which  jve  are  permitted  to  behold  it,  forms 
no  unapt  means  of  leading  man  to  a  worship  of  its  Creator; 
and,  sympathizing  as  I  do  to  the  utmost  in  our  educational 
endeavours  to  unite  and  not  to  dissever  the  acquirement  of 
knowledge  from  that  of  religion, — a  union  which,  I  think, 
is  at  once  the  glory,  the  pride,  and  the  peace  of  England, 

I  cannot  perceive  how  the  mere  teaching  of  profane  litera¬ 
ture  can  tend  to  this  end  in  any  degree  so  much  as  the 
reverential  teaching  of  Clod’s  wisdom  displayed  in  Ilis 
works,  especially  when  every  step  in  advance  of  this  know¬ 
ledge  produces  a  social  amelioration  of  the  human  race. 
But,  while  I  would  regret  to  see  our  Colleges  retrograde  one 
step  in  the  teaching  of  classical  Literature,  it  is  truly 
lamentable  that  Oxford  and  Cambridge  so  little  encourage 
the  Sciences ;  for,  until  the  Colleges  throw  open  their  widest 
portals  to  these,  the  schools  in  the  country,  deriving  their 
life  from  them,  will  do  little  to  reform  the  present  vices  of 
a  limited  and  exclusive  education. 

In  this  country  we  are,  in  many  respects,  remarkably  un¬ 
changeable.  Three  professions,  the  Church,  the  Law,  and 
Medicine,  were  supposed,  some  centuries  since,  to  repiesent 
learning,  and,  with  a  wonderful  blindness,  they  are  still 
accepted  as  all-sufficient.  Industry,  to  which  this  country 
owes  her  success  among  nations,  lias  never  been  raised  to 
the  rank  of  a  profession.  For  her  sons  there  are  no  honours, 
no  recognised  or  social  position.  Her  native  dignity,  if 
tacitly  understood,  has  never  formally  been  acknowledged. 
Science,  which  has  raised  her  to  this  eminence,  is  equally 
unrecognised  in  position  or  honours,  and,  fiom  hei  very 


lo2  ON  THE  CHEMICAL  PRINCIPLES  INVOLVED 

nature,  cannot  attain  the  wealth  which  in  Industry  solaces 
the  absence  of  social  position.  This  restriction  of  learned 
honours  to  three  recognised  professions  has  a  lamentable 
effect  both  on  the  progress  of  Science  and  of  Industry.  Its 
consequence  is,  that  each  profession  becomes  glutted  with 
ambitious  aspirants,  who,  finding  a  greater  supply  than 
demand,  sink  into  subordinate  positions,  becoming  soured 
and  disappointed,  and  therefore  dangerous  to  the  com¬ 
munity.  Raise  Industry  to  the  rank  of  a  profession, — as  it 
is  in  other  countries, — give  to  your  Industrial  Universities 
the  power  of  granting  degrees  involving  high  social  recogni¬ 
tion  to  those  who  attain  them,  and  you  will  draw  off  the 
excess  of  those  talented  men,  to  whom  the  Church,  the  Bar, 
and  Medicine,  offer  only  a  slender  chance  of  attaining  emi¬ 
nence;  and  by  infusing  such  talent  into  Industry,  depend 
upon  it,  the  effects  will  soon  become  apparent.  In  foreign 
countries,  professions  involving  social  rank  and  position 
arise  with  their  requirements;  in  our  Nation,  we  are  con¬ 
tent  with  a  meagre  classification,  scarcely  sufficient  for  the 
middle  ages,  and  not  even  a  reflection  of  our  present  wants. 
These  considerations  are  not  mean  ones,  for,  as  long  as  am¬ 
bition  exists  in  the  human  mind,  their  good  or  bad  adjust¬ 
ment  will  exercise  a  beneficial  or  pernicious  influence  on 
society. 

In  the  establishment  of  institutions  for  industrial  instruc- 
tion,  you,  at  the  same  time,  create  the  wanting  means  for 
the  advancement  of  Science  in  this  country.  I  have  alluded 
in  this  Lecture,  and  have  shown  in  another,  that  the  pro¬ 
gress  of  Science  and  of  Industry  in  countries  which  have 
reached  a  certain  stage  of  civilization  ought  actually  to  be 
synonymous  expressions ;  and  hence  it  follows  that  it  is 
essentially  the  policy  of  a  Nation  to  promote  the  one  which 
forms  the  springs  for  the  action  of  the  other.  I  think  it, 
therefore,  no  mean  advantage  to  this  nation,  that  the  estab¬ 
lishment  of  Industrial  Colleges  will  materially  aid  the  pro¬ 
gress  of  Science  by  creating  positions  for  its  professors  and 
for  those  who  would  willingly  cultivate  Science,  but  are 
scared  lrom  it  by  the  difficulties  they  have  to  encounter  in 
its  prosecution.  The  great  Davy  says, — "Science,  for  its 
progression,  requires  patronage;  but  it  must  be  a  patronage 
bestowed,  a  patronage  received  with  dignity.  It  must  bo 


IN  THE  MANUFACTURES  OF  THE  EXHIBITION.  153 

preserved  independent.  It  can  bear  no  fetters,  not  even 
fetters  of  gold;  and,  least  of  all,  those  fetters  in  which 
ignorance  or  selfishness  may  attempt  to  shackle  it.  And 
there  is  no  country  which  ought  so  much  to  glory  in  its 
progress,  which  is  so  much  interested  in  its  success,  as  this 
happy  island.  Science  has  been  a  prime  cause  of  creating 
for  us  the  inexhaustible  wealth  of  manufactures ;  and  it  is 
by  Science  that  it  must  be  preserved  and  extended.  We 
are  interested  as  a  commercial  people — we  are  interested  as 
a  free  people.  The  age  of  glory  of  a  nation  is  likewise  the 
age  of  its  security.  The  same  dignified  feeling  which  urges 
men  to  gain  a  dominion  over  nature  will  preserve  them  from 
the  dominion  of  slavery.  Natural,  and  moral,  and  religious 
knowledge  are  of  one  family,  and  happy  is  the  country  and 
great  its  strength  where  they  dwell  together  in  union.”  Let 
me  quote,  also,  from  the  immortal  Bacon  on  this  point,  him¬ 
self  the  prince  of  philosophers,  and  who,  as  lord  chancellor, 
when  he  wrote  could  not  be  actuated  by  personal  ambi¬ 
tion, — “  And  as  founders  of  Colleges  plant  and  founders  of 
Lectures  water,  we  must  next  note  a  defect  in  public  lec¬ 
tures,  whether  in  arts  or  professions,  viz.  the  smallness  of 
the  salary  generally  assigned  them,  for  it  is  necessary  to  the 
progress  of  the  Sciences  that  lecturers  be  of  the  ablest  kind, 
as  men  intended  for  propagating  the  sciences  in  future 
ages,  and  not  for  transitory  use.  And  this  cannot  be,  unless 
the  profits  content  the  most  eminent  in  every  art  to  appro¬ 
priate  their  lives  and  labours  to  this  sole  purpose,  who  must, 
therefore,  have  a  competency  allowed  to  them  proportionable 
to  what  might  be  expected  from  the  practice  of  a  profession. 
For,  to  make  the  Sciences  flourish,  David’s  military  law 
should  be  observed — e  that  those  who  stay  with  the  stores 
have  equal  with  those  who  are  in  the  action,’  or  otherwise 
the  stores  will  be  ill  attended ;  so  lecturers  in  the  Sciences, 
as  being  the  guardians  of  the  stores  and  provisions,  whence 
men  in  active  life  are  furnished,  ought  to  share  equal  ad¬ 
vantages  with  them ;  for,  if  the  fathers  of  the  Sciences  be 
weak  or  ill  maintained,  the  children  will  feel  the  effect  of 
it.”  I  will  not  weaken  this  admirable  opinion  of  Bacon  by 
any  remark  of  my  own,  for  I  believe  it  to  contain  the  real 
cause  of  the  low  state  of  Science  in  England.  But  lest  you 
should  think  my  views  partake  too  much  of  the  argumentum 


154  ON  THE  CHEMICAL  PRINCIPLES  INVOLVED 

< icl  sacculum,  I  will  protect  myself  under  the  caustic  wit  of 
Diogenes,  who,  on  being  asked,  “  How  it  happened  that 
philosophers  followed  the  rich,  and  not  the  rich  the  philoso¬ 
phers  V’  answered,  “  Because  the  philosophers  know  what 
they  want,  but  the  rich  do  not.” 

I  must  now  conclude  this  Lecture,  already  much  too  long, 
and  I  do  so  by  once  more  recalling  to  your  minds  its  general 
argument.  Chemistry,  viewed  here  as  a  type  of  Science 
generally,  has  exercised  immense  influence  upon  manufac¬ 
tures,  having  increased  human  power,  economized  human 
time,  and  communicated  important  values  to  bodies  ap¬ 
parently  the  most  worthless.  Foreign  states  have  acknow¬ 
ledged  the  fact,  that  successful  competition  can  only  be 
attained  by  an  attentive  study  of  Science — by  making  their 
sons  of  Industry  themselves  disciples  of  Science.  England, 
except  in  one  instance,  has  hitherto  not  recognised  this 
truth  as  a  principle  of  State,  and  hence  her  Science  lan¬ 
guishes,  and  her  capital  has  to  import  it  from  other  lands. 
This  points  to  the  necessity  of  the  establishment  of  Indus¬ 
trial  Colleges;  but  it  implies,  at  the  same  time,  an  adapta¬ 
tion  of  juvenile  education  to  the  wants  of  the  age.  All  this 
impresses  itself  upon  my  mind  with  a  conviction  as  strong 
as  that  the  glorious  sun  sheds  its  light-giving  rays  to  this 
naturally  dark  world  of  ours.  May  the  Exhibition  be  the 
means  of  raying  forth  this  truth  to  our  darkening  industry  ! 
Do  not  dream  of  that  Exhibition  as  a  thing  of-the  past, 
rather  think  of  it  as  a  glorious  emblem  of  the  future.  When 
Neptune  and  Minerva  disputed  as  to  who  should  name  the 
capital  of  Cecropia,  the  gods  resolved  that  the  right  should 
be  given  to  the  one  who  granted  to  man  the  greatest  benefit. 
Neptune  struck  with  his  trident  the  earth,  from  whence 
sprung  a  war-horse ;  while  Minerva  produced  an  olive-tree. 
England,  though  sharing  with  Neptune  the  empire  of  the 
sea,  ratified  the  decision  of  the  gods  by  rearing  the  emblem 
of  peace.  The  Exhibition  has  been  an  olive-tree,  the  branches 
of  which  have  now  been  spread  among  all  nations,  and  suc¬ 
cess  for  the  future  will  depend  upon  the  care  and  wisdom 
with  which  they  are  tended,  so  as  to  grow  into  goodly  trees. 
Do  not  let  us,  by  severing  Industry  from  Science,  like  a  tree 
from  its  roots,  have  the  unhappiness  of  seeing  our  goodly 
stem  wither  and  perish  by  a  premature  decay ;  but  as  the 


IN  THE  MANUFACTURES  OF  THE  EXHIBITION.  155 

tree  itself  stretches  out  its  arms  to  heaven  to  pray  for  food, 
let  us,  in  all  humility,  ask  God  also  to  give  us  that  know¬ 
ledge  of  His  works  which  will  enable  us  to  use  them  in 
promoting  the  comfort  and  happiness  of  His  creatures.  Our 
duties  in  this  respect  are  clearly  indicated  in  the  motto  of 
our  Catalogue : — 

“Humani  Generis  Progresses 
Ex  Communi  Omnium  Labore  Ortus, 
Uniuscujusqee  Industrije  Debet  Esse  Finis: 

Hoc  Adjuvando, 

Dei  Opt:  Max:  Voluntatem  Exsequimub.” 


January  7th ,  1852. 


LECTURE  YI. 


ON 

SUBSTANCES  USED  AS  FOOD,  ILLUSTRATED 
BY  THE  GREAT  EXHIBITION. 


BY 

JOHN  LINDLEY,  Ph.D.,  F.R.S. 

PROFESSOR  OF  BOTANY  IN  UNIVERSITY  COLLEGE,  I ONDON. 


14 


(157) 


i 


JOHN  LINDLEY,  Ph.D.,F.RS. 


ON 


SUBSTANCES  USED  AS  FOOD,  ILLUSTRATED  BY 
THE  GREAT  EXHIBITION. 


Having  been  requested  to  bring  before  the  Society  of 
Arts  some  of  those  general  results  to  which  the  late  Great 
Exhibition  of  all  Nations  has  led,  so  far  as  alimentary  sub¬ 
stances  are  concerned,  I  have  found  myself  in  this  position  : 
— that  between  seven  thousand  and  eight  thousand  objects 
having  come  under  the  cognisance  of  the  J ury  appointed  to 
consider  such  matters,  it  is  impossible  that  anything  which  I 
can  have  to  say  should  be  otherwise  than  either  an  exceed¬ 
ingly  brief  catalogue  of  such  productions,  or  else  a  selection  of 
some  of  the  main  points  which  would  appear  to  be  most 
deserving  of  notice. 

But  it  is  clear  that  among  so  large  a  mass  of  materials 
there  must  be  a  great  deal  that  is  familiar  to  us  all,  and 
that,  in  fact,  it  is  desirable  on  this  occasion  that  my  remarks 
should  be  limited  to  some  of  the  more  unusual  subjects 
exhibited  ;  because  food  does  not  stand  in  the  same  relation 
to  us  as  other  branches  of  knowledge,  inasmuch .  as  all  are 
obliged  to  make  themselves  very  much  acquainted  with 
what  we  do  or  can  exist  upon. 

Allow  me,  therefore,  without  further  preface,  to  proceed 
at  once, — dismissing  all  such  questions  as  those  of  sea-slugs, 
and  birds’ -nests,  and  other  curious  matters,  which,  whatever 


160  ON  SUBSTANCES  USED  AS  FOOD, 

may  be  their  value,  belong  to  countries  so  far  removed  from 
us  that  we  cannot  feel  their  importance — to  point  out  in 
what  cases  it  has  been  found  that  this  Exhibition  has  brought 
us  acquainted  with  new  preparations  or  with  new  sources  of 
supply,  new  countries,  from  which  different  kinds  of  food 
well  known  in  their  ordinary  states  can  be  obtained,  or  such 
manifest  improvements  in  alimentary  substances  as  merit 
especial  notice. 

If  we  take  the  subject  of  Wheat,  which,  perhaps,  will 
be  regarded  by  many  as  paramount  to  all  others,  I  think  it 
will  appear  that  there  are  some  circumstances  connected  with 
this  Exhibition  which  particularly  deserve  to  be  brought 
under  public  consideration,  and  especially  one  which,  al¬ 
though  the  cornfactors  in  Mark  Lane  are  familiar  with  it, 
is  by  no  means  a  matter  of  universal  notoriety — the  high 
character  and  excellence  of  the  wheat  that  comes  to  us  from 
our  South  Australian  colonies.  There  is  now  before  us  a 
sample  of  wheat  from  Adelaide,  for  which  we  are  indebted 
to  the  kindness  of  Messrs.  Heath  and  Burrows,  which  is, 
probably,  the  most  beautiful  specimen  of  corn  that  has  ever 
been  brought  to  market  in  any  country.  It  is  a  white 
wheat,  in  which  every  grain  appears  to  be  like  every  other 
grain — plump,  clear-skinned,  dry,  and  heavy,  weighing, 
what  may  seem  incredible  to  those  who  are  only  accustomed 
to  common  wheat,  seventy  pounds  a  bushel.  And  it  appears 
that  Adelaide  is  capable  of  yielding  vast  quantities  of  corn 
of  this  description,  which  takes  the  lead  in  the  markets  of 
this  country  over  all  other  white  wheats. 

It  is  very  true  that  from  Spain  there  has  come  a  similar 
kind  of  wheat,  of  great  excellence  also,  as  is  seen  by  this 
beautiful  sample  from  Castile,  from  the  mayor  of  Medina 
del  Campo,  the  weight  of  which  is  unknown,  and  not  easy 
to  estimate,  because  it  is  not  a  clean  sample.  This  is  cer¬ 
tainly  of  great  excellence  also;  but,  independently  of  its 
being  the  produce  of  a  foreign  country,  it  is  almost  inacces¬ 
sible  to  us,  and,  therefore,  a  matter  of  curiosity  more  than 
of  practical  value,  because,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  trans¬ 
port,  it  cannot  at  present  come  into  the  markets  of  this 
kingdom.  If  it  could,  considering  that  it  sells  in  Old 
Castile  at  twenty-four  shillings  a  quarter,  it  is  not  easy  to 
say  what  might  be  the  effect  upon  the  English  market  of 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  GREAT  EXHIBITION.  161 


the  introduction  of  any  large  quantity  of  it.  We  find, 
moreover,  that  similar  quantities  of  wheat,  growing  in  the 
same  rich  country  of  Spain,  are  vendible  at  much  lower 
rates. 

I  have  already  said,  that  among  the  wheats  produced  in 
the  Exhibition,  that  from  our  South  Australian  colonies  is 
the  best — that  it  is  much  the  best.  And  here  let  me  make 
a  remark  on  that  subject.  It  has  been  supposed  that  all  we 
have  to  do  in  this  country,  in  order  to  obtain  on  our  English 
farms  wheat  of  the  same  quality  as  this  magnificent  Austra¬ 
lian  corn,  is  to  procure  the  seed  and  sow  it  here.  There 
cannot -be  a  greater  mistake.  The  wheat  of  Australia  is  no 
peculiar  kind  of  wheat ;  it  has  no  peculiar  constitutional 
characteristics  by  which  it  may  be  in  any  way  distinguished 
from  wheat  cultivated  in  this  country;  it  is  not  essentially 
different  from  the  fine  wheat  which  Prince  Albert  sent  to 
the  Exhibition,  or  from  others  which  we  grow  or  sell.  Its 
quality  is  owing  to  local  conditions,  that  is  to  say,  to  the 
peculiar  temperature,  the  brilliant  light,  the  soil,  and  those 
other  circumstances  which  characterize  the  climate  of  South 
Australia,  in  which  it  is  produced ;  and,  therefore,  there 
would  be  no  advantage  gained  by  introducing  this  wheat  for 
the  purpose  of  sowing  it  here.  Its  value  consists  in  what 
it  is  in  South  Australia,  not  in  what  it  would  become  in 
England.  In  reality,  the  experiment  of  growing  such  corn 
has  been  tried.  I  myself  obtained  it  some  years  since  for 
the  purpose  of  experiment,  and  the  result  was  a  very  inferior 
description  of  corn,  by  no  means  so  good  as  the  kinds  gene¬ 
rally  cultivated  with  us.  And  Messrs.  Heath  and  Burrows, 
in  a  letter  which  I  have  received  from  them  this  morning, 
make  the  same  remark.  They  say,  “  For  seacl  purposes  it 
has  been  found  not  at  all  to  answer  in  England,  the  crop 
therefrom  being  ugly,  coarse,  and  bearded.”  The  truth  is, 
as  was  just  observed,  the  peculiarities  of  South  Australian 
wheat  are  not  constitutional,  but  are  derived  from  climate 
and  soil.  It  appears,  therefore,  that  wheat  may  be  affected 
.  by  climate,  independently  of  its  constitutional  peculiarities  : 
but  it  does  not  follow  that  wheat  is  not  subject  to  constitu¬ 
tional  peculiarities  like  other  plants.  There  are  some  kinds 
of  wheat  which,  do  what  you  may  with  them,  will  retain  a 
certain  quality,  varying  but  slightly  with  the  circumstances 
14* 


162  ON  SUBSTANCES  USED  AS  FOOD, 

under  which  they  are  produced ;  as,  for  example,  is  proved 
by  some  samples  here,  especially  of  Revitt  wheat,  of  a  very 
line  description,  exhibited  in  the  building  by  Mr.  Payne, 
and  which  is  greatly  superior  to  the  ordinary  kinds  of 
Revitt  that  appear  at  market.  This  clearly  shows  that 
Revitt  wheat  of  a  certain  kind  and  quality  is  better  than 
Revitt  wheat  of  a  different  kind,  both  being  produced  in 
this  country ;  so  that,  circumstances  being  equal,  we  have 
a  different  result,  owing  to  some  constitutional  peculiarity 
of  race.  To  other  examples  of  the  kind  I  cannot  at  present 
refer,  because  time  will  not  permit  me  to  dwell  upon  such 
points. 

But  this  leads  to  a  question  which  I  think  of  the  highest 
interest,  and  one  which  has  been  more  distinctly  brought 
out  in  the  Exhibition  that  has  just  closed  than  it  has  ever 
been  before.  We  all  know  the  effect  of  hybridizing, 
or  crossing  the  races  of  animals ;  and  we  also  know  that, 
within  certain  limits,  this  may  be  done  in  the  vegetable 
kingdom.  We  are  all  aware  that  our  gardeners  are  skilful 
in  preparing  by  such  means  those  different  varieties  of 
beautiful  flowers  and  admirable  fruits  which  have  become 
common  in  all  the  more  civilized  parts  of  Europe ;  but  no 
one  has  paid  much  attention  to  the  point  as  regards  cereal 
crops.  Yet  it  is  to  be  supposed,  that  if  you  can  double  the 
size  of  a  turnip,  or  if  you  can  double  the  size  of  a  rose,  or 
produce  a  hardy  race  of  any  kind  from  one  that  is  tender,  or 
the  reverse,  in  the  case  of  ordinary  plants,  you  should  be 
able  to  produce  the  same  effect  when  operating  on  cereal 
crops.  It  so  happens,  however,  that  the  experiment  has 
not  been  tried  except  on  the  most  limited  scale,  and  to  what 
extent  it  may.be  carried  has  been  more  brought  out  in  this 
Exhibition  than  it  ever  was  before.  In  the  last  treatise  on 
this  subject  by  Dr.  Gaertner,  a  German  writer,  who  has 
collected  all  the  information  it  was  possible  to  procure  re¬ 
lating  to  the  production  of  hybrids  in  the  vegetable  king¬ 
dom,  the  author  declares  that,  as  to  experiments  on  cereal 
plants,  they  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  had  any  existence.  . 
The  Exhibition  has,  nevertheless,  shown  us  that  they  have 
been  made,  and  some  examples  will  tell  with  what  result. 

I  have  no  very  good  means  here  of  explaining  such  experi¬ 
ments,  but  I  must  advert  to  them,  because  they  prove  dis- 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  GREAT  EXHIBITION. 


163 


finctly  that  you  may  operate  upon  the  constitutional  pecu¬ 
liarities  of  wheat,  just  as  you  may  upon  those  peculiarities 
in  any  other  plant.  For  instance,  Mr.  Raynbird,  of  Laver- 
stoke,  who  obtained  in  1848  a  gold  medal  from  the  Highland 
Society  for  experiments  of  the  kind,  sent  to  the  Exhibition 
this  box,  which  contains  a  bunch  of  Hopetown  wheat,  a 
white  variety,  and  a  bunch  of  Piper  s  Tbiciiset  wheat,  which 
is  red.  The  latter  is  coarse,  and  short  strawed,  and  liable 
to  mildew,  but  very  productive.  Mr.  Raynbird  desired  to 
know  what  would  be  the  result  of  crossing  it  with  the 
Hopetown  wheat,  and  the  result  is  now  before  us  in  the 
form  of  four  hybrids,  obtained  from  those  varieties.  If  you 
will  take  the  trouble  to  examine  them,  you  will  see  that  be¬ 
yond  all  doubt  the  new  races  thus  obtained  arc  intermediate 
between  the  two  parents — the  ears  are  shorter  than  in  the 
Hopetown,  and  longer  than  in  the  Thickset  wheat ;  in  short, 
there  is  an  intermediate  condition  plainly  perceptible  in 
them  throughout.  And  it  appears  from  the  statement  of 
Mr.  Raynbiid  that  these  hybrid  wheats,  which  are  now  cul¬ 
tivated  in  this  country,  have  succeeded  to  a  satisfactory 
extent,  yielding  forty  bushels  an  acre.  Rut  in  this  instance, 
as  in  some  others  which  I  am  about  to  mention,  I  do  not  at 
all  attach  importance  to  that  circumstance.  The  essential 
part  of  the  question  is  not  the  number  of  bushels  produced 
per  acre,  but  to  show  that  you  may  affect  the  quality  of 
cereal  crops  as  you  may  affect  animals  and  other  plants. 
Mr.  Maund,  a  very  intelligent  gentleman  residing  at  Broms- 
grove,  in  Warwickshire,  has  done  much  more  than  Mr. 
Raynbird,  for  he  has  obtained  a  greater  variety  of  results, 
which  he  exhibits  this  evening.  Mr.  Maund  has  been  oc¬ 
cupied  for  some  years  past  in  the  endeavour  to  ascertain 
whether  something  like  an  important  result  cannot  be  pro¬ 
duced  upon  wheat  by  muling,  and  he  exhibited  the  specimens 
before  us  in  evidence  of  what  may  be  done.  \  ou  will  ob¬ 
serve  that  sometimes  his  hybrids  are  apparently  very  good, 
and  sometimes  worse  than  the  parents,  as  we  know  is  always 
the  case.  When  you  hybridize  one  plant  with  another,  you 
cannot  ascertain  beforehand  with  certainty  what  the  exact 
result  will  be  :  but  you  take  the  chance  of  it,  knowing  very 
well  that  out  of  a  number  of  plants  thus  obtained  some  will 
be  of  an  improved  quality.  If  you  examine  this  glass  case 


164  ON  SUBSTANCES  USED  AS  ROOD, 

you  will  at  once  see  the  results  obtained  by  Mr.  Maund. 
In  each  instance  the  male  parent  is  on  the  left  hand,  the 
female  on  the  right,  and  the  third  specimen  shows  the  result 
of  combining  the  two  kinds;  a  better  illustration  could  not 
be  desired.  Here  is  a  hybrid  considerably  larger  than  the 
parents,  and  in  the  next  instance  one  considerably  shorter 
and  stouter.  In  another  example  you  see  a  very  coarse 
variety  gained  between  two  apparently  fine  varieties;  that 
is,  perhaps,  a  case  of  deterioration.  In  another  instance  you 
have  a  vigorous  wheat  on  the  left,  and  a  feeble  one  on  the 
right,  while  one,  much  more  vigorous  than  either,  is  the 
result.  On  the  other  hand  we  have  some  anomalous  cases, 
in  which  the  effect  of  hybridizing  has  been  to  impair 
quality.  Now,  I  think  this  is  a  very  important  case,  well 
made  out,  because  the  moment  you  show  that  by  mixing 
corn,  as  you  mix  other  things,  you  obtain  corresponding 
results,  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  an  ingenious  per¬ 
son,  occupying  himself  with  such  matters,  will  arrive  at  the 
same  improvements  in  regard  to  varieties  of  corn  as  have 
already  been  obtained  in  the  animal  kingdom,  and  in  those 
parts  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  which  have  been  so  dealt 
with. 

Wheat  has  been  taken  first,  because  it  is  the  most  im¬ 
portant  of  all  articles  of  food ;  and  I  should  have  been  able, 
had  it  been  possible,  to  have  spent  the  whole  hour  in  point¬ 
ing  out  more  points  of  considerable  interest  on  the  same 
subject.  But  other  matters  demand  attention. 

Fecula  is,  as  is  well  known,  a  granular  matter,  found  in 
the  interior  of  plants,  and  peculiar  to  the  vegetable  kingdom. 
It  exists  in  all  plants.  Pure  fecula  is  separated  by  art  from 
a  great  variety  of  species,  where  it  is  placed  in  unusual 
abundance  for  purposes  connected  with  the  wants  of  the 
plants  which  contain  it.  Before  us  to-night  are  examples 
of  it,  one  being  an  entirely  new,  and  another  a  somewhat 
novel,  source  of  fecula;  we  have  here,  in  fact,  a  kind  of 
Arrow-root,  not  of  bad  quality,  but  very  good  and  pure, 
and  probably  for  dietetical  purposes  as  useful  as  the  arrow- 
root  of  Bermuda.  Although  not  quite  new,  it  is  very  little 
known,  and  is  obtained  from  the  stems  on  the  table  of  a 
plant  which  the  people  of  St.  Domingo  call  Guayiga.  There 
is  no  reason,  perhaps,  to  suppose  that  it  will  be  of  impor- 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  GREAT  EXHIBITION.  165 

tance  in  our  commerce  with  St.  Domingo ;  but  what  is 
curious  with  regard  to  it  is,  that  there  is  a  sample  of  the 
same  substance  obtained  from  a  similar  source  in  Western 
Australia,  where  they  have  a  plant  called  Zamia  Australis, 
growing  abundantly,  and  yielding  even  better  fecula  than 
the  Guayiga  of  St.  Domingo.  In  both  instances,  it  will  be 
found  that  this  fecula  hangs  together  in  chains,  quite  unlike 
the  ordinary  appearance  of  arrow-root ;  as  is  clearly  seen 
under  the  microscope.  Thus  we  have  the  arrow-root  of 
Western  Australia,  and  another  fecula  of  the  same  kind 
obtained  from  a  species  of  Zamia,  which  is  found  growing 
wild  in  St.  Domingo — both  of  them  sources  which  had  been 
previously  unknown  or  scarcely  attended  to. 

There  is  another  very  curious  substance,  for  specimens 
of  which  we  are  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  Sir  William 
Hooker,  who  has  sent  it  from  the  important  museum  be¬ 
longing  to  the  gardens  at  Kew.  These  are  cakes  of  Typha 
Bread — this  from  Scinde,  that  from  New  Zealand — where 
they  are  articles  of  food,  prepared  from  the  pollen  of  the 
common  reed-mace,  or  bulrush  of  those  countries.  The  one 
which  is  from  Scinde,  and  which  is  called  there  boor  or 
booree,  is  made  from  the  pollen  of  the  flowers  of  the  typha 
elephantina,  or  elephants’  grass,  of  the  country.  The 
other,  which  is  called  punga-punga,  by  the  people  of  New 
Zealand,  is  obtained  from  another  species  of  bulrush,  called 
typha  utilis.  I  believe  these  are  the  only  cases  known  of 
the  pollen  of  plants  being  used  for  food  under  any  circum¬ 
stances  whatever;  and  it  is  not  a  little  curious  that  coun¬ 
tries  so  far  apart  as  Scinde  and  New  Zealand  should  have 
the  same  most  unusual  kind  of  diet.  It  is  also  interesting 
to  know  that  the  value  attached  to  this  as  an  article  of  food 
is  not  imaginary  :  for  it  appears  from  the  researches  of 
chemists  that  the  pollen  of  plants  contains  an  azotized  mat¬ 
ter,  which,  mixed  with  the  starch  existing  in  pollen  in  great 
quantities,  and  with  other  matters,  will  give  a  real  nutritive 
value  to  this  curious  substance.  Whether  there  is  on 
record,  in  the  history  of  ancient  times,  anything  concerning 
food  made  from  the  flowers  of  bulrushes,  I  do  not  know, 
but  this  is  certain,  that  the  bulrush  from  Scinde,  which 
yields  the  cakes  standing  yonder,  is  probably  the  same  as 
that  from  which  the  basket  was  made  in  which  the  infant 


166 


ON  SUBSTANCES  USED  AS  FOOD, 


Moses  was  placed :  for  to  this  day,  in  Scinde,  bulrushes  are 
woven  into  baskets,  of  the  very  same  nature  as  we  may 
suppose  them  to  have  been  in  the  days  of  Moses. 

Passing  by  similar  matters  of  curiosity,  I  may  just  refer 
to  an  odd-looking  lump  of  what  is,  nevertheless,  an  admira¬ 
ble  substance.  That  bag  of  leaves  contains  some  dried 
Plantains,  which  were  sent  to  the  Exhibition.  It  is  not 
to  be  forgotten,  that  in  this  house  the  first  notice ,was  taken 
of  the  dried  plantains  of  Mexico.  In  Mexico,  such  articles, 
in  a  dried  state,  enter  largely  into  the  consumption  of  the 
people  in  the  mining  districts.  Pried  plantains  possess 
considerable  nutritive  value,  and  are  at  the  same  time  ex¬ 
ceedingly  agreeable  to  the  palate,  while  they  are  cheap  and 
easy  to  prepare.  But  what  I  would  more  especially  mention 
in  respect  to  them  is,  that  the  plantains  which  lie  there, 
perfectly  sweet,  and  having  undergone  no  material  change 
whatever  up  to  the  present  time,  were  sent  into  a  baggage- 
warehouse  at  Woolwich  in  the  year  1835,  and  had  there  been 
lying  till  they  were  transferred  to  the  Exhibition  building. 
So  that  it  appears  that  dried  plantains  are  not  only  exceedingly 
good  to  eat,  and  highly  nutritive,  but  have  the  property,  which 
many  such  substances  do  not  possess,  of  keeping  for  a  very 
long  time, — a  fact  that  should  interest  those  who  deal  in  figs, 
and  similar  articles,  which  are  apt  to  become  mity,  and  dry, 
and  to  spoil,  to  the  loss  of  those  who  own  them.  It  is  certain 
that  there  is  no  good  property  belonging  to  the  fig  which  does 
not  also  belong  to  the  dried  plantain.  It  appears  from  the 
statements  of  Colonel  Colquhoun,  to  whom  we  owe  our 
knowledge  of  the  preparation,  that  such  dried  plantains  can 
be  prepared  in  Mexico  and  sold  in  Europe  for  threepence  a 
pound,  allowing  ten  per  cent,  profit,  supposing  there  is  no 
duty  on  their  import. 

These  are  minor  matters.  Let  me  now  call  attention  to 
the  subject  of  preserved  provisions. 

In  the  first  place,  the  Exhibition  contained  some  exam¬ 
ples  of  dried  Vegetables,  prepared  by  what  is  called 
Masson’s  process.  Yonder  are  specimens,  lying  to  the  right 
of  the  Chairman.  They  have  been  packed  in  tin-foil,  and 
very  imperfectly  secured;  so  that  although  they  are  still 
undergoing  no  change  whatever,  yet  they  are  not  seen  under 
favourable  circumstances ;  they  have  been  affected,  though 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  GREAT  EXHIBITION.  167 


not  injuriously,  by  the  dampness  of  the  building  in  which 
they  have  been  kept.  The  samples  consist  of  white  and 
red  cabbages,  turnips,  Brussels  sprouts,  and  various  other 
things.  As  to  the  method  of  preserving  them,  it  appears 
to  be  free  from  all  objection.  First,  it  is  very  cheap-  se¬ 
condly,  as  we  are  led  to  believe  by  persons  in  France  who 
are  well  informed  on  the  subject,  it  perfectly  answers  the 
purpose.  ,The  mode  of  preparing  these  vegetables  is  shortly 
as  follows :  they  are  dried  at  a  certain  temperature  (from 
104°  to  118°),  which  is  neither  so  low  as  to  cause  them  to 
dry  slowly  nor  so  high  as  to  cause  them  to  dry  too  quickly ; 
if  the  last  happens  they  acquire  a  burnt  taste,  which  de¬ 
stroys  their  quality.  They  lose  from  87  to  89  per  cent,  of 
their  water,  or  seven-eighths  of  their  original  weight;  after 
which  they  are  forcibly  pressed  into  cakes,  and  are  ready 
for  use.  I  saw,  a  year  ago,  the  original  of  a  letter  from  the 
captain  of  the  Astrolabe,  a  French  vessel  of  war,  speaking 
in  the  highest  terms  of  the  supply  of  these  vegetables  for 
the  use  of  that  vessel  during  her  voyage :  the  French  navy 
generally  mentions  them  in  the  most  favourable  terms,  and 
no  reason  appears  for  doubting  such  statements.  The  spe¬ 
cimens  before  you  are,  I  repeat,  seen  under  unfavourable 
circumstances.  They  ought  to  have  been  kept  in  tin  and 
protected  from  the  air;  instead  of  which,  they  have  been 
lying  about  more  than  nine  months  in  the  Exhibition  build¬ 
ing,  where  they  have  been  exposed  to  considerable  damp¬ 
ness.  Yet  they  are  not  injuriously  affected,  although  they 
are  absorbing  moisture,  as  must  necessarily  happen  in  a 
damp  place,  and  which,  if  it  were  to  continue,  would  spoil 
them.  Now,  I  think  this  is  a  matter  of  more  consequence 
than  it  may  appear  to  be,  for  the  following  reason  :  it  is 
usual  to  supply  the  navy  with  preserved  food  of  different 
kinds;  and  I  am  informed  by  a  distinguished  officer  of  the 
Antarctic  expedition  under  Sir  James  Ross,  that  although 
all  the  preserved  meats  used  on  that  occasion  were  excellent, 
and  there  was  not  the  slightest  ground  for  any  complaint 
of  their  quality,  yet  the  crew  became  tired  of  the  meat,  but 
were  never  tired  of  the  vegetables.  This  should  show  us 
that  it  is  not  sufficient  to  supply  ships’  crews  with  preserved 
meat,  but  that  they  should  be  supplied  with  vegetables  also, 
the  means  of  doing  which  is  now  afforded. 


168 


ON  SUBSTANCES  USED  AS  FOOD, 


I  have  only  a  word  or  two  to  say  about  M.  Brocchieri’s 
scheme.  Those  who  are  acquainted  with  this  proposal  will 
remember  that  cakes  and  other  articles  of  food  made  from 
blood  were  exhibited  in  the  building.  In  some  cases  those 
cakes  have  undergone  no  change,  in  others  they  became 
putrid.  The  object  of  M.  Brocchieri  was  to  utilize  the 
blood  of  animals  in  abattoirs.  Now,  as  we  are  led  .  to  be¬ 
lieve  that  abattoirs  will  be  constructed  in  London,  it  is  an 
important  question  whether  the  blood  of  the  numerous 
animals  there  killed  can  be  utilized  or  not.  M.  Brocchieri 
thought  it  could ;  and  by  some  unknown  method  he  sepa¬ 
rated  the  serum  from  the  crassamentum,  and  obtained  a 
hard,  dry  substance,  the  nature  of  which  I  can. scarcely 
describe:  it  was  perfectly  insipid,  and  with  nothing  dis¬ 
agreeable  about  it  whatever.  Perhaps  it  was  like  very  dry 
black  bread,  or  something  of  that  sort.  It  the  name  had 
not  been  unfortunate,  people  would  have  looked  at  it  with 
more  interest.  It  is  a  question,  however,  whether  it  is 
desirable  thus  to  utilize  the  blood  collected  in  abattoirs,  or 
whether  it  may  not  be  better  to  let  it  go  into  the  refuse,  to 
be  employed  as  manure;  for  it  appears  from  the  best  evi¬ 
dence  that  can  be  obtained,  that  blood  is  admirably  adapted 
for  that  purpose.  It  is  proved  that,  supposing  unmanured 
land  will  yield  threefold,  then  land  manured  with  bullocks’ 
blood  will  yield  fourteen  fold;  therefore  we  have  direct 
evidence  that  the  blood  of  animals  has  a  very  powerful 
action  as  manure ;  and  it  may  be  more  profitable  to  obtain 
our  food  from  it  in  that  indirect  manner  than  to  use  blood- 
cakes  prepared  after  M.  Brocchieri’s  method. 

Preserved  Meats  are  out  of  favour  just  now.  We  hear 
of  little  except  condemned  canisters,  which  the  Admiralty 
unfortunately  have  in  store.  It  is  the  more  proper,  then, 
to  state,  that  the  evidence  before  the  Jury  went  to  show 
that  it  is  possible  to  preserve  meat  in  canisters  without  un¬ 
dergoing  any  change,  for  a  great  length  of  time.  We  had 
hashed  beef,  which  was  excellent,  dating  back  to  1836 ;  we 
had  boiled  beef  fifteen  years  old,  preserved  in  canisters,  and 
many  other  specimens,  none  of  which  were  changed.  It  is 
clear,  therefore,  that  the  canister-process  of  preserving  is 
good,  provided  you  keep  a  sharp  eye  cn  the  contractors,  and 
upon  those  who  act  under  them. 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  GREAT  EXHIBITION.  169 

What  is  more  important  than  all  other  preserved  provi¬ 
sions,  is  the  article  to  which  I  must  next  request  attention. 
A  great  deal  of  interest  was  excited  when  the  contents  of 
the  Exhibition  first  became  known, — and  it  did  not  diminish 
afterwards, — by  a  certain  Meat-Biscuit,  introduced  among 
the  American  exhibitions  from  Texas,  by  Mr.  Gail  Borden. 
We  were  told  that  its  nutritive  properties  were  of  a  very  high 
order ;  it  was  said  that  ten  pounds  weight  of  it  would  be 
sufficient  for  the  subsistence  of  an  active  man  for  thirty 
days, — that  it  had  been  used  in  the  American  navy,  and 
had  been  found  to  sustain  the  strength  of  the  men  to  whom 
it  had  been  given  in  a  remarkable  degree.  Statements  were 
made  to  us,  which  have  since  been  corroborated,  that  it 
would  keep  perfectly  well  without  change,  under  disadvan¬ 
tageous  circumstances.  Colonel  Sumner,  an  officer  in  the 
United  States  Dragoons,  who  had  seen  it  used  during  field 
operations,  says  he  is  sure  he  could  live  upon  it  for  months, 
and  retain  his  health  and  strength.  The  inventor,  he  says, 
names  five  ounces  a  day  as  the  quantity  for  the  support  of 
a  man;  but  he  (Colonel  Sumner)  could  not  use  more  than 
four  ounces,  made  into  soup,  with  nothing  whatever  added 
to  it.  The  substance  of  these  statements  may  be  said  to 
amount  to  this,  that  Borden’s  Meat-Biscuit  is  a  material 
not  liable  to  undergo  change,  is  very  light,  very  portable, 
and  extremely  nutritious.  A  specimen,  placed  in  the  hands 
of  Dr.  Playfair  for  examination,  was  reported  by  him  to  con¬ 
tain  32  per  cent,  of  flesh-forming  principles;  for  it  is  a  compo¬ 
sition  of  meat, — the  essence  of  meat,  and  the  finest  kind  of 
flour.  Dr.  Playfair  stated  that  the  starch  was  unchanged, 
that,  consequently,  there  could  have  been  no  putrescence 
in  the  meat  employed  in  its  preparation,  and  that  the 
biscuit  was  u  in  all  respects  excellent.”  It  was  tasted, — I 
tasted  it, — the  Jury  and  others  tasted  it;  and  we  all  found 
nothing  in  it  which  the  most  fastidious  person  could  com¬ 
plain  of :  it  required  salt,  or  some  other  condiment,  as  ail 
these  preparations  do,  to  make  them  savoury.  This  meat- 
biscuit,  as  I  said  just  now,  was  reported  to  be  capable  of 
keeping  well, — and  this  might  well  be  true, — because  no 
foreign  matter  had  been  introduced  into  its  composition; 
there  was  no  salt  to  absorb  moisture,  and  nothing  else  to 
interfere  with  the  property  of  flour,  or  of  essence  of  meat. 
15 


170  ON  SUBSTANCES  USED  AS  FOOD, 

These  biscuits  are  prepared  by  boiling  down  the  best  fiesh 
beef  that  can  be  procured  in  Texas,  and  mixing  it  in  certain 
proportions  with  the  finest  flour  that  can  be  there  obtained; 
it  is  stated  that  the  essence  of  five  pounds  of  good  meat  is 
estimated  to  be  contained  in  one  pound  of  biscuit.  That  it 
is  a  material  of  the  highest  value  there  can  be  no  doubt : 
to  what  extent  its  value  may  go,  nothing  but  time  .  can 
decide;  but  I  think  I  am  justified  in  looking  upon  it  as 
one  of  the  most  important  substances  which  this  Exhibition 
has  brought  to  our  knowledge.  When  we  consider  that  by 
this  method,  in  such  places  as  Buenos  Ayres,  animals  which 
are  there  of  little  or  no  value,  instead  of  being  destroyed, 
as  they  often  are,  for  their  bones,  may  be  boiled  down,  and 
mixed  with  the  flour  which  all  such  countries  produce,  and 
so  converted  into  a  substance  of  such  durability  that  it  may 
be  preserved  with  the  greatest  ease,  and  sent .  to  distant 
countries,  it  seems  as  if  a  new  means  of  subsistence  was 
actually  offered  to  us.  Take  the  Argentine  Republic- 
take  Australia,  and  consider  what  they  do  with  their  meat 
there  in  times  of  drought,  when  they  cannot  get  rid  ot  it 
whilst  it  is  fresh, — they  may  boil  it  down,  and  mix  the 
essence  with  flour  (and  we  know  they  have  the  finest  in  the 
world),  and  so  prepare  a  substance  that  can  be  preserved  for 
times  when  food  is  not  so  plentiful,  or  sent  to  countiies 
where  it  is  always  more  difficult  to  procure  food.  Is  not 
this  a  very  great  gain  ?*  _ 

Concerning  other  matters  I  must  necessarily  be  more  brief 
I  can  say  little  regarding  coffee  and  cocoa ; — there  was  not, 
in  fact,  in  the  Exhibition  much  that  deserved  notice :  but 
there  was  one  sample  (and  I  am  sorry  to  say  I  have  not  a 
specimen  here)  which  ought  to  be  mentioned  most  especially ; 
namely,  the  Cocoa  of  admirable  quality  which  comes,  or 
which  may  come,  from  Trinidad.  Cocoa — or  cacao,  as  we 
should  call  it— is  an  article  of  very  large  consumption. 
Enormous  quantities  of  it  are  now  used  in  the  navy;,  and 
every  one  knows  how  much  it  is  employed  daily  in  private 
life.  It  is,  moreover,  the  basis  of  chocolate.  But  we  have 
the  evidence  of  one  of  the  most  skilful  brokers  in  London, 

*  The  agency  for  the  sale  of  meat-biscuit  in  this  country  is  2  St. 
Peter’s  Alley,  Cornhill. 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  GREAT  EXHIBITION.  171 

who  has  had  forty  years’  experience  to  enable  him  to  speak 
to  the  fact, — that  we  never  get  good  cocoa  in  this  country. 
The  consequence  is,  that  all  the  best  chocolate  is  made  in 
Spain,  in  France,  and  in  countries  where  the  fine  description 
of  cocoa  goes.  We  get  here  a  cocoa  which  is  unripe,  flinty, 
and  bitter,  having  undergone  changes  that  cause  it  to  bear  a 
very  low  price  in  the  market.  But  it  comes  from  British 
possessions,  and  is,  therefore,  sold  here  subject  to  a  duty  of 
only  18s.  8 d.  per  cwt.,  whereas  if  it  came  from  a  foreign 
country  it  would  pay  56s.  The  differential  duty  drives  the 
best  cocoa  out  of  the  English  market.  Still  it  appears  that 
we  might  supply,  from  our  own  colonies,  this  very  cocoa; 
because,  as  I  have  said,  there  was  exhibited,  from  Trinidad, 
■a  very  beautiful  sample,  quite  equal  to  anything  produced 
in  the  best  markets  of  the  Magdalena,  of  Socomusco,  or 
of  other  places  on  the  Spanish  Main.  It  had  no  bitter¬ 
ness — no  flintiness — no  damaged  grains  in  it ;  but  all  were 
plump  and  ripe,  as  if  they  had  been  picked.  The  cocoa 
from  the  Spanish  Main  goes  into  other  countries,  for  the 
preparation  of  that  delicious  chocolate  which  we  buy  of 
them.  It  is  thrown  out  of  our  market  by  the  differen¬ 
tial  duty.  But  it  is  their  own  fault  if  our  own  colonies 
do  not  produce  fine  cocoa,  as  Trinidad  has  conclusively 
proved. 

I  may  here  notice  a  curiosity  of  a  similar  nature.  Dr. 
Gardner  sent  to  the  Exhibition  some  prepared  Coffee 
Leaves,  which  he  proposes  as  a  substitute  for  tea;  expect¬ 
ing  that  in  the  coffee  plantations  leaves  may  be  gathered 
and  dried,  as  well  as  berries.  One  of  the  reasons  assigned 
in  support  of  this  proposition  is,  that  you  obtain  from 
coffee  the  same  alkaloid,  theine ,  that  you  obtain  from  tea; 
and  it  is  that  alkaloid  which  gives  tea  its  value  as  an 
article  of  diet.  I  am  afraid,  however,  it  will  be  a  long 
time  before  this  plan  comes  into  use ;  for,  in  the  first 
place,  I  cannot  say  that  coffee  leaves  have  a  very  pleasant 
taste ;  and,  moreover,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  coffee- 
tree,  stripped  of  its  leaves,  will  yield  any  such  crop  of 
berries  as  will  compensate  for  the  loss  of  the  leaves  them¬ 
selves. 

Another  proposition  is,  that  of  Mr.  Snowden,  who 
points  out  that  coffee  consists  of  two  parts,  namely,  the 


ON  SUBSTANCES  USED  AS  FOOD, 


172 

grain  itself,  which  is  good,  and  the  remains  of  the  skin  that 
belongs  to  it,  and  is  entangled  in  the  folds  of  the  coffee, 
which  in  itself  is  useless.  He,  therefore,  says,  “  When  you 
roast  your  coffee,  you  should  break  it  up  in  my  manner,  and 
separate  this  skin  or  parchment — this  useless  material — 
from  it,  and  use  only  the  residue,  or  pure  material.”  In 
some  bottles  on  the  table  are  shown  the  different  stages  of 
this  process  of  Mr.  Snowden’s  for  preparing  the  coffee. 
You  have  it  roasted,  in  the  first  place;  then,  you  see  it 
crushed,  together  with  the  impurities  spoken  of;  and  next, 
you  have  the  clean  coffee  with  the  impurities  separated.  I 
do  not  know  whether  the  expense  of  the  operation  corres¬ 
ponds  with  the  advantage  to  be  derived  from  it ;  but  it  is 
certainly  ingenious.  It  is,  however,  believed  that  the  parch-  • 
ment  in  question  is  a  caput  mortuum,  which  does  neither 
good  nor  harm. 

Then  the  Turks  sent  us  an  odd  material, — a  substance 
they  call  Ivinguel, — which  is  a  grain,  or  seed-vessel,  em¬ 
ployed  by  them  as  a  substitute  for  coffee ;  whether  for 
adulterating  or  improving  its  quality  they  do  not  tell  us.  It 
is  unknown  in  this  country  as  an  article  of  use,  and  is  the 
seed-vessel  of  a  plant  called  Gundelia. 

Sugar,  which  may  come  next  after  coffee,  leads  me  to  one 
or  two  important  points.  It  must  be  allowed  that  the  gene¬ 
ral  exhibition  of  sugar  by  no  means  represented  the  state  of 
the  sugar  market;  and  that  there  was  a  great  deal  of  what 
is  generally  known,  and  therefore  not  worth  mentioning  to¬ 
night.  But  there  was  a  most  curious  series  shown  in  the 
French  department,  which,  for  the  singular  and  beautiful 
illustration  it  gave  of  the  application  of  science  to  manufac¬ 
turing  processes,  deserves  to  be  particularly  noticed.  The 
French  make  their  sugar,  as  I  need  not  say,  from  the  beet¬ 
root;  all  the  home-made  sugar  which  they  consume  is  beet¬ 
root  sugar.  In  that  manufacture  there  is  a  residuum,  as 
there  is  in  sugar  made  from  the  sugar-cane — molasses,  a 
brown  sweet  substance,  containing  a  great  deal  of  sugar 
which  cannot  be  recovered.  The  beet-root  molasses  has  this 
serious  fault — it  is  nauseous,  and  utterly  uneatable,  except 
by  pigs.  It  has  a  bad,  disagreeable  smell,  and  looks  like 
what  I  am  pointing  to  now  [referring  to  a  specimen]..  It 
is,  therefore,  sold  at  a  very  low  price,  and  is  generally  given 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  GREAT  EXHIBITION.  173 

to  animals.  But  it  occurred  to  M.  Dubranfaut  that  this 
molasses  might  be  compelled  to  give  up  its  sugar ;  and  he 
invented  what  is  called  the  barytic  process,  in  order  to  sepa¬ 
rate  it.  To  the  useless  molasses  of  beet-root  he  adds  hydrate 
of  baryta,  which  combines  with  the  saccharic  acid,  or  sweet 
principle,  and  produces  a  sacclmrate,  or  sucrate  of  baryta,  an 
insoluble  substance.  The  colouring  and  other  soluble  mat¬ 
ters  are  then  washed  out ;  and  thus  from  this  dark  substance, 
acted  upon,  in  the  first  instance,  by  the  hydrate  of  baryta, 
you  obtain  a  body  [producing  it],  which  is  perfectly  colour¬ 
less.  It  is  next  necessary  to  get  rid  of  the  baryta,  it  being 
poisonous ;  and  carbonic  acid  is  used  for  that  purpose.  Car¬ 
bonic  acid  being  introduced,  a  carbonate  of  baryta  is  formed; 
the  baryta  goes  over  to  the  carbonic  acid,  and  the  sugar  is 
left.  The  sweet  fluid  is  then  subjected  to  clarification,  by 
straining  through  animal  charcoal  and  sulphate  of  lime,  and 
becomes  a  colourless  substance,  extremely  sweet,  and  per¬ 
fectly  free  from  baryta.  Thus  is  obtained  a  kind  of  eau 
sucre  from  the  black,  and,  I  may  say,  foetid  molasses :  the 
final  result  is,  the  recovery  of  from  35  to  45  per  cent,  of 
sugar.  There  are  other  points  about  this  operation  of  which 
I  have  not  time  to  make  mention,  and  which  are  the  less 
material  now,  because  such  matters  may  be  expected  to  be 
more  particularly  explained  in  the  report  of  the  Jury  soon 
about  to  be.  published. 

We  must  be  very  brief  about  Tea.  Here  are  some  sam¬ 
ples  of  tea  partly  illustrative  of  the  condition  of  the  tea- 
manufacture  in  India,  and  partly  of  the  state  of  the  tea-trade 
in  China.  There  was  in  the  Exhibition  an  extraordinary 
and  most  valuable  collection  of  Chinese  teas,  procured  by 
Mr.  Ripley  of  Canton,  and  afterwards  bought  by  Mr.  Dakin, 
to  which  gentleman  we  are  indebted  for  some  of  the  canis¬ 
ters  before  you,  showing  the  finest  qualities  of  tea,  and 
certain  other  matters  which  I  shall  mention  presently.  You 
will  there  find  examples  of  what  the  finest  known  qualities 
of  tea  are,  and  among  them  a  sample  of  tea  called  superfine 
flowery  Pekoe,  which  cost  in  China  50s.  a  pound — such 
being  the  value  which  the  Chinese  place  upon  it.  In  this 
country  it  can  be  only  a  fancy  tea,  exceedingly  delicate,  no 
doubt,  but  possessing  qualities  to  which  we  ascribe  little 
importance. 

15* 


174 


ON  SUBSTANCES  USED  AS  FOOD, 


There  are  also  samples  of  tea  from  Assam,  and  others 
from  the  Himalaya  mountains,  concerning  which  I  am 
anxious,  however  short  the  time  at  my  disposal,  to  say  a 
word.  Hr.  Hoyle  has  been  kind  enougli  to  send  the  sam¬ 
ples  of  tea  from  Assam,  which  occupy  four  of  the  saucers 
on  the  table;  and  two  other  samples  from  the  Himalaya 
mountains,  green  and  black ;  these  represent  exceedingly 
well  the  state  of  the  manufacture  of  tea  in  each  country. 

First,  as  to  Assam  Tea.  The  history  of  Assam  tea  is 
this  : — About  the  year  1826  a  Mr.  Scott  obtained  some  in¬ 
formation  respecting  the  existence  of  tea  in  the  province  of 
Assam,  one  of  the  warmer  districts  in  the  territory  of  East¬ 
ern  India.  Persons  were  sent  to  examine  the  nature  of  this 
tea,  and  they  reported  rather  favourably  of  it.  A  Company 
was  formed,  and  the  plant  has  been  cultivated  since  that 
time  successfully.  But  Assam  is  a  jungly  country;  the  tea 
grows  on  the  banks  of  rivers ;  and  the  temperature  is  higher 
than  we  should  expect  it  to  be  where  good  tea  is  known  to 
be  produced.  The  experiment  may  be  called  successful; 
for  if  the  Company  cannot  make  fine  tea,  they  make  an  ex¬ 
ceedingly  good  mercantile  article:  it  appears  that  the  tea 
of  Assam,  although  not  of  fine  quality,  is  strong,  and  useful 
for  mixing  with  tea  of  inferior  strength.  Some  of  that  tea 
has  been  estimated,  by  gentlemen  who  were  consulted  by 
the  Jury,  as  bearing  the  value  of  from  2s.  6 d.  to  3s.  6 d.  per 
pound  in  the  London  market.  It  is  extensively  consumed, 
and  there  is  nothing  deleterious  in  it.  Its  merits  are  a 
matter  of  taste,  and  it  suits  those  who  like  to  drink  tea  high 
flavoured.  However,  there  was  little  probability  of  grow¬ 
ing  really  good  tea  in  such  a  jungly,  warm  region,  because 
in  its  native  country  tea  is  gathered  on  the  sides  of  hills, 
where  there  is  frost  in  the  morning  for  a  great  part  of  the 
year,  and  where  the  trees  are  ventilated  by  winds  constantly 
blowing  through  them,  instead  of  being  in  a  vale,  as  in  As¬ 
sam,  where  mists  are  more  prevalent  than  clear  weather. 
This  led  Hr.  Itoyle  to  recommend  an  attempt  to  cultivate 
tea  in  the  Himalaya  mountains,  where  a  similar  cold  tem¬ 
perature,  and  circumstances  of  the  same  nature  as  in  the  tea 
districts  of  China,  exist.  Judging  from  a  priori  considera¬ 
tions,  he  was  of  opinion  that  tea  would  succeed  completely 
on  the  hills  of  Northern  India.  He  recommended,  in  1827, 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  TIIE  GREAT  EXHIBITION.  175 

the  attempt  to  Lord  Amherst,  who  was  then  Governor- 
general,  and  afterwards  to  Lord  William  Bentinck,  who 
commenced  the  experiment  at  his  suggestion;  and  what  is 
the  result?  In  1847,  162  acres  were  occupied  by  tea- 
plantations  on  the  Himalayas;  and  at  that  time  the  tea  was 
selling  at  Almora,  the  green  for  9s.  and  10s.  a  pound,  and 
the  black  from  4s.  to  7s.  But  there  were  also  coarse  quali¬ 
ties,  wdiich  were  purchased  by  the  people  of  Bhotan  to  carry 
with  them  across  the  passes  in  Thibet  and  Chinese  Tar¬ 
tary — into  the  very  places  supplied  by  the  Chinese  them¬ 
selves.  It  appears  from  a  report  which  has  just  been  put 
into  my  hands  on  the  subject,  by  Mr.  Fortune,  who  has 
been  employed  lately  by  the  East  India  Company  to  inquire 
into  this  matter,  that  the  quantity  of  ground  now  covered 
is  656  acres  of  public  land,  exclusive  of  all  that  in  the 
occupation  of  Zemindars,  who  are  most  anxious  to  form  tea- 
plantations.  Here  are  two  samples  of  this  tea,  green  and 
black;  the  best  is  worth  2s.  4 d.  a  pound,  free  of  duty. 
There  can  be  no  doubt,  therefore,  that  the  experiment  has 
perfectly  succeeded ;  and  it  has  furnished  a  means  of  em¬ 
ploying  the  poorer  inhabitants  of  the  Himalaya  mountains, 
who  have  no  other  way  of  earning  that  which  may  procure 
them  the  comforts,  or  even  the  necessaries  of  life :  nor  is  it 
at  all  improbable  that  a  part  of  the  Chinese  trade  will  soon 
pass  from  the  Chinese  themselves  to  the  Europeans  in  the 
north  of  India. 

There  is  among  Mr.  Dakin’s  samples  another  point, 
which  is  of  a  somewhat  different  nature.  You  will  find 
there  some  very  fine  samples  of  gunpowder  tea  and  of 
scented  Caper, — the  finest  the  Chinese  can  make ;  and  near 
them  you  will  observe  some  spurious  gunpowder  and  spuri¬ 
ous  scented  Caper  tea;  the  eye  cannot  perceive  a  difference 
between  them.  Here  wre  have  an  instance  in  which  the 
Chinese  have  succeeded  in  committing  a  fraud,  which  is  of 
a  most  gigantic  nature,  as  must  be  admitted  -when  we  recol¬ 
lect  that  750,000  lbs.  weight  of  such  tea  were  imported 
into  Liverpool  a  short  time  ago ;  and  that  when  the  spuri¬ 
ous  article  is  mixed  with  real  tea  the  two  cannot  be  dis¬ 
tinguished  by  any  ordinary  process.  One  of  these  teas  is 
black,  and  exactly  like  scented  Caper;  the  other  is  green, 
and  to  the  eye  is  exactly  like  the  finest  gunpowder.  But 


176 


ON  SUBSTANCES  USED  AS  FOOD, 


there  is  no  tea  in  either,  and  they  offer  a  very  curious  in¬ 
stance  of  the  ingenuity  of  the  Chinese  in  falsifying  what 
they  sell — an  art  for  which  that  nation  is  notorious,  as 
you  must  know.  This  “  tea”  they  call  “  lie  tea,”  and  it  is 
made  in  the  following  manner  : — The  Chinese  take  a  tub, 
into  which  they  put  a  quantity  of  sand  and  similar  sub¬ 
stances,  pounded  leaves,  vegetable  dust,  or  anything  con¬ 
taining  vegetable  matter,  with  apparently  some  gypsum  ; 
this  they  sprinkle  with  rice-water.  The  rice-water,  being 
of  a  glutinous  nature,  collects  the  composition  into  small 
balls,  which  hold  together :  and  by  degrees,  by  dexterous 
manipulation,  the  tub  full  of  this  fraudulent  material  ac¬ 
quires  the  form  of  myriads  of  globules.  In  the  next  place, 
the  globules  are  faced;  they  are  made  black  with  black 
lead,  as  Mr.  Warrington,  an  ingenious  friend  of  mine 
attached  to  Apothecaries’  Hall,  has  proved  by  analysis. 
They  face  the  green  with  Prussian  blue,  and  probably  tur¬ 
meric  ;  there  are  two  opinions  about  that :  some  say  the 
green  is  a  mixture  of  Prussian  blue  and  chromate  of  lead ; 
others  say  that  turmeric  is  used ;  at  all  events,  there  is  no 
tea.  You  will  see  by  these  test-glasses  that  I  have  been 
taking  pains  to  get  some  tea  out  of  the  “  lie  tea.”  [Pro¬ 
ducing  an  infusion  of  each.]  There  is  a  great  deal  of  dirt, 
and  a  great  many  pieces  of  leaves  at  the  bottom,  and  that  is 
all;  but  there  is  not  a  trace  of  tea  in  the  infusions,  and  I 
have  employed  nothing  that  could  have  destroyed  the  tea 
leaves,  if  there  had  been  any  present. 

I  am  told  that  Tobacco  is  not  alimentary,  and  ought  not 
to  be  introduced  here ;  but  as  it  was  a  part  of  the  functions 
of  the  Jury  to  which  I  had  the  honour  to  belong  to  consider 
all  that  related  to  tobacco,  I  think  the  Society  of  Arts 
ought  not  to  be  left  in  the  dark  as  to  this  important  ques¬ 
tion.  And  in  the  first  place  I  have  to  state,  without  going 
at  all  (for  there  is  no  time)  into  the  comparative  merits  of 
different  kinds  of  tobacco,  that  certain  very  curious  facts 
were  elicited.  It  is  not  to  be  disputed  that  the  finest  to¬ 
bacco  in  the  world  comes,  as  is  generally  supposed,  from 
the  Havannah ;  this  was  demonstrated  by  the  admirably 
manufactured  samples  exhibited  by  the  house  of  Cabanas 
and  Carbajal.  But  there  is  only  a  limited  area  in  Cuba  in 
which  that  tobacco  is  produced ;  so  that  whilst  the  Havan- 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  GREAT  EXHIBITION.  177 

nah  tobacco  may  be  of  excellent  quality  in  general,  yet  it  is 
only  that  which  comes  from  a  certain  part  which  is  much 
better  than  any  other.  Don  Ramon  de  la  Sagra,  who  re¬ 
sided  many  years  in  Cuba,  and  published  an  important 
work  on  that  island,  has  stated  that  this  is  undoubtedly  the 
fact, — that  the  best  Havannah  tobacco  is  the  produce  of  a 
very  small  area.  The  consequence  is,  that  this  little  area 
is  the  only  place  known  where  the  finest  kind  of  tobacco 
can  be  produced ;  and  we  cannot  look  even  to  the  Havannah 
for  it  with  great  confidence,  inasmuch  as  it  is  chiefly  used 
in  the  island,  or  as  presents,  but  a  limited  amount  going 
into  general  consumption.  Yet  we  found  that  the  tobacco 
from  Trinidad  did  not  appear  to  be  in  any  way  inferior  to 
that  from  Havannah.  Whether  or  not  there  exist  generally 
in  the  island  of  Trinidad  conditions  of  soil  and  other  condi¬ 
tions  favourable  for  eliciting  the  admirable  qualities  which 
the  best  description  of  Havannah  tobacco  has,  I  cannot 
say ;  but,  for  my  own  part,  I  entertain  no  doubt  whatever 
that  in  that  part  of  Trinidad  from  whence  the  tobacco  came 
which  was  exhibited  in  the  building,  a  kind  of  leaf  quite 
equal  to  the  best  class  of  Havannah  tobacco  might  be  grown. 
Soil,  no  doubt,  and  a  variety  of  circumstances  of  that  kind, 
have  much  to  do  with  the  quality  of  tobacco ;  otherwise  we 
cannot  account  for  the  varying  qualities  of  the  samples 
produced  from  various  countries.  This  is  strikingly  shown 
by  a  remarkable  circumstance :  some  of  the  best  tobacco 
sent  to  the  Exhibition  came  from  the  Southern  Russian 
provinces ;  it  was  fully  equal  to  the  best  American  tobacco, 
grown  in  America  under  favourable  circumstances ;  it  was 
tobacco  of  the  highest  class ;  yet  nobody  could  have  ex¬ 
pected  that  such  would  have  ■  been  the  case  with  Russian- 
grown  tobacco.  The  fact,  however,  proved  how  much  cli¬ 
mate  and  soil  have  to  do  with  the  quality  of  tobacco,  and 
that  the  summer  climate  of  some  parts  of  Southern  Russia  is 
admirably  fitted  for  the  cultivation  of  this  plant. 

On  the  other  hand,  manufacture  exercises  a  great  influ¬ 
ence  over  the  quality  of  tobacco.  In  Algiers,  where  the 
climate  is  apparently  most  favourable,  the  quality  is  such 
that  nobody  could  be  found  to  go  through  the  punishment 
(I  must  so  call  it)  of  smoking  an  Algerine  cigar.  Those 
cigars  were  not  smokable,  because  they  were  badly  pre- 


178 


ON  SUBSTANCES  USED  AS  FOOD, 


pared ;  for  Algiers  is  a  country  apparently  favourable  to  the 
growth  of  the  plant,  if  proper  means  were  taken  to  prepare 
the  leaves. 

Then,  again,  we  found  that  some  English-made  cigars  are 
not  to  be  distinguished  from  Havannah  cigars.  I  would 
ask  any  gentleman  who  has  the  misfortune  [?]  to  smoke,  to 
examine  those  cigars  made  by  Lambert  and  Butler,  of  Drury 
Lane,  and  to  tell  me  whether  they  are  English  or  foreign, 
— by  the  look.  They  are  not  distinguishable  by  external 
appearance,  and  I  may  add,  that  the  method  which  has  been 
employed  in  preparing  them  renders  them  of  very  great  ex¬ 
cellence, — of  much  greater  excellence,  in  fact,  than  many 
of  the  cigars  imported  from  Havannah,  and  paying  a  ten- 
shilling  duty  as  manufactured  tobacco.  Now  this  is  a  sub¬ 
ject  of  greater  importance  than  at  first  sight  may  appear; 
for  if  we  can  succeed  in  making  cigars  of  such  quality  in 
England,  we  immediately  create  a  large  demand  for  labour. 
The  preparation  of  cigars  is  by  hand  labour,  which  no  ma¬ 
chinery  can  ever  supersede;  and  when  we  recollect  that 
in  the  German  Commercial  Union,  in  the  year  1842, 
605,000,000*  of  cigars  were  made,  it  is  not  necessary  to 
inquire  how  much  labour  was  required  for  that  production. 
But  none  of  the  Continental  cigars  were  good,  except  what 
came  from  Portugal; — those  of  the  German  Commercial 
Union  were  very  inferior  to  the  best  English-made  cigars 
that  were  produced ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  whatever  that  it 
is  quite  practicable  to  make  cigars  in  this  country  which 
shall  be  undistinguishable  in  appearance,  and  not  very  dis¬ 
tinguishable  in  flavour,  from  any  except  those  first-class 
Havannah  cigars  which  scarcely  ever  come  into  consumption. 
It  is  a  matter  of  considerable  importance  to  establish  that 
fact,  because  it  may  open  the  way  to  the  employment  of 
poor  people,  whose  physical  infirmities  render  them  unfit 
for  harder  labour.  I  need  not  say  that  cigar-making  is  very 
light  work. 

With  respect  to  the  Portuguese  cigars,  I  have  only 
this  remark  to  make :  they  were  of  a  very  unusual  quality. 
They  are,  I  presume,  made  in  Portugal  from  foreign  tobacco, 
— perhaps  Brazilian.  They  appear  as  if  they  had  been  high 

*  60-1,898,200  according  to  official  returns. 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  GREAT  EXHIBITION.  179 

dried.  The  flavour  is  unlike  that  of  the  best  cigars  we 
have,  and  resembles  that  of  high-dried  snuff ;  they  are  very 
pleasant,  smoke  exceedingly  well,  are  mild,  and  of  excellent 
flavour ;  but  not  of  the  same  flavour  as  those  we  are  in  the 
habit  of  getting  in  this  country.  Our  cigar-makers  will  do 
•well  to  turn  their  attention  to  this  kind  of  manufactured 
tobacco. 

About  Honey,  I  can  merely  say  that  there  was  a  great 
deal  of  bad,  and  a  great  deal  that  was  admirable.  We  had 
honey  from  Hymettus,  from  Greece,  France,  Spain,  and 
many  other  places;  but  there  was  among  it  little  that  could 
be  called  better  than  the  best  of  that  which  we  are  in  the 
habit  of  consuming;  although  some  was  of  remarkable 
excellence. 

Of  far  more  importance  than  honey,  the  quality  of  which 
necessarily  depends  on  the  country  where  it  is  produced,  is 
the  question  of  Hives  ;  and  I  think  I  ought  not  to  close 
these  remarks  without  a  few  observations  on  so  interesting 
a  subject.  Bee-hives,  it  is  true,  are  not  food,  but  they  are 
the  means  of  obtaining  food ;  and  they  came  under  the  con¬ 
sideration  of  the  Jury  to  which  I  had  the  honour  to  belong. 

We  found  a  great  quantity  of  hives,  which  were  gene¬ 
rally  remarkable  for  being  unsuited  to  the  insects  that  were 
to  inhabit  them.  Bees  require,  above  all  things,  to  be  left 
alone ;  to  be  perfectly  tranquil ;  and  we  found  double  hives, 
with  one  so  drawn  over  the  other  that  you  could  not  take 
off  the  outer  hive  without  shaking  the  inner  one.  Bees 
require  an  atmosphere,  sometimes  warm  and  sometimes 
cool :  and  we  found  hives  made  with  ventilating  contrivances 
of  pierced  zinc,  most  ingeniously  adapted  to  occupy  the  time 
of  the  bees  in  filling  up  the  holes  when  they  do  not  want 
them,  and  opening  them  again  when  they  do.  Bees  require 
ready  access  to  their  hive  in  summer,  and  the  means  of 
closing  up  the  access  in  winter;  we  found  hives  made  with 
openings  so  narrow,  and  the  access  so  small,  that  not  more 
than  two  bees  could  enter  at  a  time.  Bees  have  enemies  to 
contend  with, — mice  and  snails, — tom-tits  pop  their  heads 
in  when  they  can,  and  carry  the  bees  off;  we  found  hives 
apparently  contrived  for  no  purpose  except  to  let  mice  and 
such  creatures  in.  Bees  require  an  equal  temperature, — 
not  over  hot  in  summer,  and  not  over  cold  in  winter ;  we 


180  ON  SUBSTANCES  USED  AS  FOOD, 

found  laives  made  of  metal  plates.  I  had  the  curiosity  to 
write  to  a  person  who  had  used  one  of  these  hives,  of  great, 
even  royal,  pretensions,  to  inquire  what  had  become  of  his 
bees;  his  answer  was,  “They  have  all  perished  or  flown 
away !”  It  is  known  that  angles  in  the  interior  of  hives 
are  exceedingly  disadvantageous ;  because  it  is  in  the  angles 
that  the  wax-moth,  the  greatest  enemy  to  bees,  makes  a 
lodgment:  we  found  hives  extremely  angular;  hives,  indeed, 
provided  with  angles  multiplied  with  singular  pains.  In 
short,  we  saw  nothing  to  commend  or  to  admire  in  the  hives 
exhibited  (I  speak  of  the  English  hives)  excepting  one 
small  improvement,  which  is  here.  It  is  a  small  matter, 
but  it  is  a  real  excellence  in  construction  as  well  as  in  the 
present  mode  of  putting  a  top  on  hives.  In  general  form 
this  hive  is  very  like  a  common  hive,  but  it  is  admirably 
made  of  straw  of  considerable  thickness.  It  is  not  a  trun¬ 
cated  cone,  as  all  hives  to  carry  glasses  are,  but  is  more  like 
a  hemisphere,  with  a  flat  board  put  upon  the  top.  The 
hemispherical  form  is  that  best  adapted  to  prevent  the  in¬ 
roads  of  wax-moths.  There  is  also  something  peculiar  in 
the  form  of  it;  you  will  observe,  that  it  is  rather  less  in 
diameter  at  the  bottom  than  it  is  a  little  higher  up,  by  which 
means  the  comb  is  kept  firm.  Altogether  it  appeared  to  be 
a  hive  deserving  favourable  notice.  It  was  exhibited  by 
Mr.  Milton,  of  Marylebone  Street,  the  most  skilful  of  our 
apiarians.  If  that  were  not  known,  his  book  on  bees  would 
sufficiently  show  that  he  deserves  to  be  thus  spoken  of.* 

The  facts  thus  brought  under  your  notice  seem  to  show, 
that  so  far  as  the  subject  of  food  is  concerned,  the  late  Exhi¬ 
bition  has  brought  into  view  many  points  of  considerable 
importance.  It  has  shown  that  our  Australian  colonies 
furnish  the  best  wheat  in  the  world,  Spain  not  excepted. 
It  has  shown  that  the  quality  of  wheat  may  be  improved 
to  an  unknown  extent  by  those  processes  which  have  been 
applied  to  other  parts  of  the  animated  world  with  the  best 
results,  but  which  have  not  been  applied  to  cereal  crops. 
It  has  shown  that  there  are  means  by  which  vegetable  and 
animal  provisions  may  be  preserved  with  certainty,  and 

*  This  kind  of  hive,  without  the  top,  was  first  proposed  by  Butler, 
in  his  admirable  “Ilistorie  of  Bees,”  published  in  1628,  chap,  iii 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  GREAT  EXHIBITION.  181 

without  risk  of  deterioration,  for  a  greater  length  of  time 
than  any  kind  of  service  can  require.  It  has  shown  that  if 
we  are  condemned  to  had  cocoa  and  to  bad  chocolate, — if 
our  chocolate-makers  cannot  compete  with  France  and  Spain, 
and  other  countries,  it  is  less  because  of  our  differential 
duties  than  on  account  of  the  supineness  of  English  colonists, 
who  look  to  differential  duties  as  a  cloak  for  their  own 
slovenly  culture.  It  has  shown  that  the  tea  of  the  Himalaya 
is  becoming  an  important  article  of  trade,  rendering  it  im¬ 
possible  to  doubt,  from  the  evidence  we  already  possess,  that 
the  tea  grown  in  the  north  of  India  will  soon  enter  into  com¬ 
petition""  with  that  of  China.  It  has  shown  that  we  may 
obtain,  from  our  own  island  of  Trinidad,  tobacco  fit  to  be 
compared  with  the  inost  renowned  of  the  Ilavannah  •  and 
that  we  may  not  only  make  better  cigars  at  home  than  any 
made  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  but  very  much  better 
than  many  which  come  from  America  itself.  The  Great 
Exhibition  has,  in  short,  demonstrated,  that  although  new 
kinds  of  food  are  not  to  be  expected  (and  it  seems  hopeless 
to  look  for  them),  yet  that  means  exist  of  materially  im¬ 
proving  both  the  quality  of  what  we  have,  and  the  mode  of 
its  preparation;  and,  moreover,  that  we  need  not  despair  of 
discovering  still  other  sources  from  which  some  of  the 
articles  we  now  use  may  be  more  abundantly  and  econo¬ 
mically  obtained  than  is  the  case  at  present. 


16 


, 

V 


. 


LECTURE  VII. 


THE  VEGETABLE  SUBSTANCES  USED  IN  THE 
ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES,  IN  RELATION 
TO  COMMERCE  GENERALLY. 


PROFESSOR  EDWARD  SOLLY,  F.R.S. 


(183) 


V 


•  . . > 

l  .... 


'  :  .  '  1 :  v  -v  :a 

. ;  -  .  ......  .  . 


PROFESSOR  EDWARD  SOLLY,  F.R.S. 


ON 


THE  VEGETABLE  SUBSTANCES  USED  IN  THE  ARTS 
AND  MANUFACTURES. 


In  undertaking  to  describe  to  you  the  probable  influence 
of  the  Great  Exhibition  on  the  cultivation  and  preparation 
of  vegetable  raw  produce,  I  feel  that  I  have  attempted  a  task 
of  some  difficulty.  The  subject  is  a  very  important  and  a 
very  extensive  one,  forming,  as  it  were,  the  very  ground¬ 
work  and  foundation  of  commerce,  manufactures,  and,  I  may 
say,  indeed  of  national  prosperity.  To  attempt  to  enter  into 
the  consideration  of  the  whole  subject,  and  to  follow  out  one 
by  one  the  various  branches  into  which  it  naturally  divides 
itself,  would  occupy  many  lectures  instead  of  one ;  and  I 
shall  therefore  content  myself  with  rather  trying  to  place 
before  you  such  generalizations  as  have  occurred  to  me  during 
the  course  of  my  labours  in  the  Jury,  and  select  as  illustra¬ 
tions  a  few  of  the  more  important  of  the  many  subjects 
which  have  been  under  our  consideration. 

In  using  the  term  “raw  produce,”  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  it  is  not  to  be  confined  to  those  substances,  which 
in  their  crude  and  natural  condition  form  articles  of  com¬ 
merce;  but  rather  to  those  vegetable  materials,  whether 
crude  or  partly  manufactured,  which  constitute  the  basis  of 
the  arts  and  manufactures,  the  crude  matter  on  which  the 
manufacturer  exerts  his  skill,  and  which  it  is  the  especial 
object  of  his  art  to  render  fit  for  some  new  and  useful  pur- 

16  *  (185) 


186  ON  THE  VEGETABLE  SUBSTANCES  USED 

pose.  It  is  in  the  state  in  which  he  obtains  it;  and  it  is, 
therefore,  truly  speaking,  the  raw  material  of  his  art, 
although,  at  the  same  time,  it  may  really  have  undergone  a 
long  series  of  preliminary  processes  and  operations. 

At  the  very  outset  of  our  inquiries,  and  in  our  very  first 
attempt  to  draw  general  conclusions  respecting  the  vegetable 
elements  of  commerce,  we  are  met  by  one  or  two  serious 
difficulties,  which,  whilst  they  tend  to  make  our  study  more 
laborious  and  uncertain,  at  the  same  time  teach  us  to  be 
cautious  and  diffident,  lest  in  our  wish  to  draw  general  de¬ 
ductions,  and  arrive  at  first  principles,  we  fall  into  the  very 
common  error  of  arguing  on  false  or  insufficient  data. 

If  the  Great  Exhibition  had  really  contained  specimens 
of  all  the  principal  raw  produce  of  each  different  country, 
though  it  would,  no  doubt,  have  been  difficult  to  compare 
them  together,  from  the  fact  of  their  being  dispersed  and 
scattered  over  so  large  a  space,  yet  we  should  then,  at  least, 
have  had  the  means  of  making  a  fair  estimate  of  the  relative 
powers  of  production  of  each  country.  This,  however,  un¬ 
fortunately,  was  not  the  case :  some  countries  were  well 
represented,  some  indifferently,  and  some  but  very  badly ; 
and  hence  it  is  necessary  in  imagination  to  try  and  supply 
these  deficiencies,  before  we  can  fairly  reason  on  the  whole 
as  complete.  In  spite  of  all  caution,  however,  it  is  probable, 
that  the  effects  which  the  Great  Exhibition  will  really  lead 
to,  will  differ  as  widely  from  those  which  it  might  produce, 
as  the  Exhibition  itself,  in  fact,  differed  from  what  it  might 
have  been.  Taken  in  a  broad  sense,  the  Exhibition  must 
be  regarded  as  a  great  practical  expression  of  the  state  and 
condition  of  human  industry,  as  an  indication  of  the  degree 
of  advancement  to  which  it  has  arrived,  and  the  changes 
which  it  is  undergoing.  As  regards  the  future,  then,  we 
have  to  consider,  What  changes  and  improvements  may  we 
look  forward  to  ?  and  how  will  those  changes  and  alterations 
be  influenced  by  the  Great  Exhibition  ? 


Even  a  slight  examination  of  the  raw  produce  which 
forms  the  chief  basis  of  our  manufactures,  must  lead  us  to 
the  conclusion  that,  in  many  cases,  the  best  substances  are 


IN  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES.  187 

not  used,  nor  are  the  best  modes  of  preparing  them  followed. 
The  history  of  every  art  gives  us  plenty  of  illustrations  to 
show  what  apparently  trifling  circumstances  have  led  to  the 
use  of  some  particular  substance,  and  how  long  it  has  been 
before  that  substance  has  given  way  on  the  introduction  of 
a  new  material,  even  though  the  new  material  was  confess- 
edly  superior  to  that  previously  in  use.  The  cause  of  this 
has,  no  doubt,  in  part  been  the  tenacity  with  which  men  in 
all  cases  cling  to  old  customs  and  practices,  and  the  cautious 
disinclination  which  prudent  men  generally  have  to  enter 
into  a  new  process;  whilst  in  many  cases  it  has  certainly 
arisen  from  a  combination  of  those  in  trade,  determined  to 
prevent  any  alteration,  or  the  introduction  of  any  new  sub¬ 
stance.  But,  at  the  same  time,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
ignorance  on  the  part  of  the  manufacturer  of  what  was  his 
true  interest,  has  been  at  the  very  foundation  of  this  opposi¬ 
tion  to  change. 

If  you  were  to  place  before  any  manufacturer  specimens 
of  all  the  substances  which  could  be  employed  in  his  par¬ 
ticular  manufacture,  and  if  you  could  tell  him  from  whence 
each  could  be  procured,  its  cost,  the  quantities  in  which  he 
might  obtain  it,  and  its  physical  and  chemical  properties, 
he  would  soon  be  able  to  select  for  himself  the  one  best 
suited  for  his  purposes.  This,  however,  has  never  happened 
in  relation  to  any  one  art ;  in  every  case  manufacturers  have 
had  to  make  the  best  of  the  materials  which  chance  or 
accident  has  brought  before  them.  It  is  strange  and  start¬ 
ling,  but  nevertheless  perfectly  true,  that  even  at  the  present 
time  there  are  many  excellent  and  abundant  productions 
of  nature,  with  which  not  only  our  manufacturers,  but,  in 
some  instances,  even  our  men  of  science,  are  wholly  unac¬ 
quainted.  There  is  not  a  single  book  published  which  gives 
even  tolerably  complete  information  on  any  one  of  the 
different  classes  of  vegetable  raw  produce  at  present  under 
our  consideration. 

The  truth  of  these  remarks  will  be  felt  strongly  by  any 
one  who  takes  the  trouble  to  examine  any  of  these  great 
divisions  of  raw  materials.  He  will  obtain  tolerably  com¬ 
plete  information  respecting  most  of  those  substances  which 
are  known  in  trade  and  commerce;  but  of  the  greater 
number  of  those  not  known  to  the  broker,  he  will  learn 


188 


ON  THE  VEGETABLE  SUBSTANCES  USED 


little  or  nothing.  Men  of  science,  for  the  most  part,  look 
down  upon  such  knowledge.  The  practical  uses  of  any  sub¬ 
stance,  the  wants  and  difficulties  of  the  manufacturer,  are 
regarded  as  mere  trade  questions,  vulgar  and  low — simple 
questions  of  money.  On  the  other  hand,  mere  men  of 
business  do  not  feel  the  want  of  such  knowledge,  because, 
in  the  first  place,  they  are  ignorant  of  its  existence,  and 
secondly,  because  they  do  not  see  how  it  could  aid  them  in 
their  business  ;  and  if  it  should  happen  that  an  enterprising 
manufacturer  desires  to  learn  something  of  the  cultivation 
and  production  of  the  raw  material  with  which  he  works, 
he  generally  finds  it  quite  impossible  to  obtain  any  really 
sound  and  useful  information.  In  such  cases,  if  he  is  a 
man  of  energy  and  of  capital,  he  often  is  at  the  cost  of 
sending  out  a  properly  qualified  person  to  some  distant  part 
of  the  globe,  to  learn  for  him  those  practical  details  which 
he  desires  to  know.  This  is  no  uncommon  thing;  and 
many  cases  might  be  stated,  showing  the  great  advantages 
which  have  arisen  to  those  who  have  thus  gained  a  march 
upon  their  neighbours. 

This  want  of  knowledge,  arising  as  it  does  from  a  want 
of  communication  between  the  first  producer  and  the  manu¬ 
facturing  consumer,  is  the  great  cause  why  some  of  our 
manufactures  advance  so  slowly,  and  why  some  branches 
of  commerce  are  in  so  depressed  a  state.  A  moment’s  con¬ 
sideration  will  suffice  to  show  the  bearing  of  this  fact.  Let 
us  take  the  case  of  a  gum,  a  resin,  or  a  vegetable  extract, 
collected  by  a  native  in  the  vast  forests  of  Hindostan,  and 
used  by  the  calico-printer  of  Manchester :  what  connexion 
have  these  two  with  each  other  ?  and  what  knowledge  has  the 
former  of  the  purposes  to  which  it  is  to  be  applied,  or  the 
latter  of  the  sources  whence  it  is  derived  ?  The  native  col¬ 
lector  sells  the  raw  produce  to  the  native  buyer  or  broker, 
having  generally  taken  care  to  adulterate  it  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent;  the  native  broker  sells  it  again  to  the  mer¬ 
chant;  the  merchant  consigns  it  to  a  house  in  England; 
and  the  English  house  employs  their  broker  to  introduce  it 
to  the  manufacturer.  Perhaps  the  article,  from  careless 
collection  or  from  intentional  adulteration,  is  greatly  depre¬ 
ciated  in  value ;  still  the  manufacturer  must  use  it,  for  he 
cannot  get  any  better :  he  consults  his  broker,  and  learns 


IN  TIIE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES. 


189 


that  it  is  the  best  in  the  market,  and  that  it  always  comes 
over  in  that  state.  So  matters  go  on  from  generation  to 
generation;  and  for  want  of  a  little  knowledge,  rightly 
applied,  all  parties  persevere  in  a  system  which,  whilst  it 
invariably  increases  labour,  at  the  same  time  certainly 
diminishes  profit. 

It  would  lead  me  too  far  from  the  subject  now  under 
our  consideration,  were  I  to  consider  the  effects  produced 
in  trade  by  these  “  middlemen”  and  intermediate  agents. 
I  would  now,  therefore,  only  point  out  to  you  the  effect 
which  they  produce  in  retarding  the  spread  of  knowledge. 
No  doubt,  such  a  system  has  its  advantages,  as  well  as  its 
objections;  that  it  tends  to  keep  up  the  old  rule-of-thumb 
mode  of  going  on,  there  is  likewise  no  doubt;  and  also, 
that  with  all  its  faults,  and  the  inconveniences  which  it 
causes  to  manufacturers,  they  would  be  very  sorry  to  see 
it  in  any  way  changed.  It  sometimes  happens  that  a 
merchant  rashly  endeavours  to  set  aside  the  old  prejudice, 
and  presumes  to  bring  his  goods  directly  to  the  manufac¬ 
turer  ;  if  he  does  so,  he  is  generally  eyed  with  distrust  and 
suspicion,  and  is  told,  as  I  have  not  unfrequently  myself 
heard,  “  Really  we  cannot  entertain  the  thing  in  this  form ; 
you  had  better  send  it  to  ns  in  the  ordinary  way,  through  a 
broker.”  I  do  not  for  a  moment  mean  to  say  that  this  may 
not  be  the  most  business-like  mode  of  proceeding;  my  ob¬ 
ject  merely  is  to  point  out  how  this  system  tends  to  check 
improvement,  and  how  the  manufacturers,  though  they 
suffer  from  its  effects,  cherish  and  combine  to  uphold  it.  It 
may  be  taken  as  a  pretty  well-ascertained  fact,  that  only 
those  manufactures  are  in  a  really  progressive  state,  of 
which  the  producer  of  the  raw  material  and  the  manufac¬ 
turing  consumer  are  in  more  or  less  direct  communication, 
and  where  there  is  a  mutual  knowledge  of  the  capabilities 
of  the  one,  and  the  requirements  of  the  other.  TV  hen  there 
are  many  intermediate  agents  between  the  two,  it  is  long 
before  the  complaints  of  the  manufacturer  reach  the  ears  of 
the  first  producer,  and  it  must  be  many  years  before  the  im¬ 
provement  which  the  former  desires  can  be  brought  about. 

Such  a  system  of  trade  offers  no  facilities  for  the  intro¬ 
duction  of  new  kinds  of  vegetable  raw  produce ;  a  new  sub¬ 
stance,  like  a  new  process,  is  looked  on  with  distrust.  It 


190  ON  THE  VEGETABLE  SUBSTANCES  USED 

u  is  not  in  the  market the  broker  does  not  know  it,  and 
that  is  nearly  the  same  as  pronouncing  it  of  no  value  :  it  is 
put  up  to  auction,  sold  for  a  tenth  part  of  its  value,  and 
what  becomes  of  it  is  a  mere  chance.  Sometimes  it  falls 
into  the  hands  of  clever  and  enterprising  men,  a  demand  for 
it  rapidly  arises,  and  it  is  then  afterwards  brought  to 
market;  but  more  frequently  it  is  thrown  aside  as  useless, 
because  no  pains  are  taken  to  apply  it  in  the  right  manner, 
and  in  a  couple  of  years  it  is  altogether  forgotten,  or  if  re¬ 
membered,  it  is  as  a  worthless  thing  which  was  tried  some 
years  since,  and  found  of  no  use;  and,  lastly,  the  report 
goes  back  to  the  country  from  which  it  was  brought,  that  it 
is  of  no  value  in  the  European  markets. 


As  I  have  already  said,  the  Great  Exhibition  presented 
to  us  a  most  valuable  and  interesting  collection  of  the 
gums,  resins,  oils,  dye-stuffs,  fibres,  and  timber  of  many 
countries;  necessarily  far  from  complete,  but  still  highly 
useful,  because  along  with  those  substances  well  known  to 
our  manufacturers,  there  were  samples  of  many  which  are 
wholly  unknown,  and  not  a  few  of  those,  which  having  been 
brought  over  in  former  years,  and  condemned  and  discarded 
in  the  manner  just  alluded  to,  are  now  beginning  to  excite 
attention,  and  are  likely  in  time  to  become  articles  of  com¬ 
merce.  This  department  of  the  Exhibition  possesses  one 
peculiar  advantage,  namely,  that  it  is  not  merely  a  record 
of  the  successes,  but  also,  to  some  extent  likewise,  of  the 
failures,  of  past  years ;  and  there  are  many  cases  in  which 
failures  are  even  more  instructive  than  successes.  In  ex¬ 
amining  thes^forgotten  materials,  we  are  naturally  led  to 
inquire  into  the  reasons  why  they  met  with  so  little  favour; 
we  are  induced  to  study  the  modes  in  which  they  were  tried, 
and  the  causes  which  led  to  the  failure  of  their  employment. 
If  these  inquiries  teach  us  the  reason  why  former  attempts 
failed,  they  may  very  probably  suggest  new  modes  of  work¬ 
ing,  better  suited  to  the  properties  and  peculiar  characters 
of  each  substance;  or,  indeed,  they  may  perhaps  lead  to 
altogether  new  uses  and  new  applications. 


/N  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES. 


191 


Gums  and  Resins. 

On  examining  the  collection  of  gums  and  resins  in  the 
Great  Exhibition,  it  is  impossible  not  to  be  struck  with  the 
number  and  variety  of  these  substances  shown,  all  imperfect 
though  the  series  was;  and  also  with  the  fact,  that  many 
of  the  finest  and  best  are  not  at  all  used  in  the  arts,  whilst 
many  of  the  inferior  ones  are.  Now,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
if  these  manufacturers  who  use  gums  and  resins  were  well 
acquainted  with  the  better  sorts,  they  would  soon  learn  to 
discard  the  inferior  varieties.  I  might  mention,  for  ex¬ 
ample,  the  fine  red  resin  of  the  Xanthorrhoea  of  New  South 
Wales,  which,  though  it  has  been  known  in  our  Museums 
for  more  than  half  a  century,  is  only  now  beginning  to  be 
used  by  manufacturers,  and  which  will  unquestionably  ere 
long  increase  in  estimation  and  demand.  In  a  similar  con¬ 
dition  stand  the  beautiful  Cowrie  resin  of  New  Zealand,  the 
East  Indian  Dammers,  and  the  line  hard  resins  from  Coorg. 
These  resins  all  require  a  peculiar  treatment,  different  from 
that  employed  with  the  ordinary  resins  of  commerce  :  treated 
'as  those  substances  commonly  are,  they  will  be  found  re¬ 
fractory  and  useless;  but  by  new  processes,  and  under  the 
influence  of  different  solvents,  their  real  value  will  in  time 
be  developed. 

Another  point,  and  one  which  directly  illustrates  some 
of  the  remarks  I  have  already  made,  is  the  great  variation 
in  quality  which  many  of  these  substances  exhibit,  result¬ 
ing  from  want  of  care  and  attention  in  their  collection  and 
preservation.  When,  for  example,  we  find  that  a  substance 
imported  from  India  as  gum,  and  intended  to  be  used  as  a 
substitute  for  gum  arabic,  is  the  product  of  at  least  twenty- 
four  different  trees,  collected  indiscriminately,  and,  in  fact, 
is  a  mixture  of  gums,  resins,  gum-resins,  and  impurities  of 
all  sorts,  it  is  not  difficult  to  understand  why  it  should  be 
in  little  esteem,  and  fetch  but  a  small  price  in  our  markets. 
A  small  portion  of  the  mixture  is  excellent,  but  it  is  almost 
rendered  useless  by  the  quantity  of  trash  sent  with  it ;  to 
remedy  this,  it  must  be  carefully  handpicked,  and  that,  of 
course,  still  further  diminishes  its  value.  In  the  East  Indian 
collection,  which  was  unquestionably  the  richest  and  most 
interesting  series  in  the  whole  Exhibition;  there  were 


192 


l.N  THE  VEGETABLE  SUBSTANCES  USKB 


several  specimens  of  well-known  substances  from  new  locali¬ 
ties  ;  amongst  these  I  would  mention  the  shellac  from  Singa¬ 
pore.  It  is  stated  that  this  important  resin  may  easily  be 
collected  in  almost  unlimited  quantities  in  the  neighbouring 
jungles  of  the  Peninsula.  Now  the  value  of  shellac  varies 
very  greatly,  according  to  the  tree  from  which  it  is  collected, 
and  other  circumstances  j  and  the  lac  brought  over  is  some¬ 
times  so  inferior  as  to  be  of  very  little  use  to  the  manufac¬ 
turer  :  if  more  care  is  not  used  in  its  collection,  the  trade  in 
it  will  very  probably  ere  long  begin  to  fall  off,  as  some  of 
the  other  and  less  uncertain  resins  come  more  into  use,  and 
gradually  replace  it. 

In  connexion  with  gums,  we  must  not  forget  the  very 
excellent  artificial  gum,  which  is  now  so  largely  made  for 
the  use  of  calico-printers  and  others,  by  roasting  starch,  and 
known  under  the  name  of  u  dextrine,”  or  British  gum. 
This  manufacture  has  now  been'  brought  to  such  a  degree 
of  perfection,  that  it  leaves  little  to  be  desired ;  it  has,  of 
course,  diminished  the  value  of  natural  gums,  and  increased 
the  importance  of  the  starch  series.  The  manufacture  of  . 
starch  itself  has  undergone  several  important  changes  during 
the  last  few  years,  chiefly  due  to  the  application  of  chemical 
science.  Formerly,  starch  was  almost  entirely  obtained 
from  wheat  and  similar  grains  by  fermentation ;  the  cellular 
matter  of  the  grain  was  destroyed  by  fermentation,  and  the 
particles  of  starch  were  thus  liberated :  this  kind  of  process 
was  not  applicable  to  rice  or  maze,  and  it  is  only  since  the 
introduction  of  chemical  modes  of  setting  free  the  starch, 
that  those  grains  have  been  available  as  sources  of  it.  By 
the  application  of  bleaching  agents,  too,  the  appearance  of 
the  starch  has  been  greatly  improved.  New  plants  have 
been  resorted  to  by  the  manufacturers  of  starch ;  of  late 
years  very  large  quantities  of  excellent  starch  have  been 
prepared  from  sago,  the  meal  of  which,  in  fact,  requires 
very  little  more  than  washing  and  bleaching  to  render  it  fit 
for  use. 


Caoutchouc. 

A  century  ago  caoutchouc  or  India-rubber  v  as  only 
known  as  a  curiosity — now  it  is  regarded  almost  as  a  ne- 


IN  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES. 


193 


oessary  of  life,  and  of  late  not  a  year  has  gone  by  without 
some  new  and  valuable  application  of  this  remarkable  sub¬ 
stance.  A  few  years  since,  the  demand  for  India-rubber 
had  increased  so  much,  that  importers  began  anxiously  to 
look  out  for  new  sources,  especially  as  the  supply  from 
South  America  was  beginning  to  fall  off.  A  little  inquiry 
showed  that  abundance  of  milky-juiccd  plants,  yielding  ex¬ 
cellent  caoutchouc,  flourished  in  the  forests  of  tropical  Asia; 
and  from  various  parts  of  the  East  Indian  empire,  Assam 
in  particular,  excellent  samples  were  sent.  A  trade  soon 
sprang  up,  and  large  quantities  of  caoutchouc  were  sent 
over ;  it  was,  however,  found  that  the  rubber  greatly  dete¬ 
riorated  in  quality,  and  that  the  cargoes  sent  over  did  not  at 
all  correspond  in  goodness  to  the  first  samples;  hence  it  soon 
acquired  a  bad  name,  and  a  diminished  value  in  the  market. 
The  cause  of  this  change  was  simple  enough — the  first  sam¬ 
ples  sent  over  were  carefully  prepared  by  intelligent  persons, 
and  in  the  manner  which  experience  had  shown  to  be  the 
best;  that  which  was  afterwards  imported  was  prepared  in 
a  careless  and  slovenly  manner  by  the  natives,  not  in  the 
best  manner,  but  simply  in  that  manner  which  gave  the 
least  trouble.  It  is  sad  to  see  in  how  many  instances,  for 
the  want  of  a  little  care  and  forethought,  the  abundant  riches 
of  the  earth  are  destroyed,  or  rendered  useless  for  the  pur¬ 
poses  of  man. 


Gutta  Percha. 

There  is  very  little  doubt  that  there  exist  many  other 
vegetable  substances  similar  to  caoutchouc,  which,  like  it, 
might  be  used  for  various  purposes  in  the  arts,  but  which 
must  remain  unknown  and  unused,  till  some  happy  acci¬ 
dent  shall  develope  their  value  to  those  able  to  employ  them 
practically.  A  few  years  since  we  witnessed  in  this  room 
the  introduction  of  that  singular  substance,  gutta  percha, 
when  we  awarded  our  large  gold  medal  to  Dr.  Montgomerie, 
for  drawing  the  attention  of  European  artisans  to  its  re¬ 
markable  and  valuable  properties.  I  believe  that  there  are 
many  similar  substances  which  might  in  the  same  way  be 
introduced  with  advantage  to  the  notice  of  English  manu¬ 
facturers,  and  which  are  at  present  either  only  known  to  the 
17 


194 


ON  THE  VEGETABLE  SUBSTANCES  USED 


natives  of  the  places  in  which  they  are  produced,  or  perhaps 
even  altogether  unknown.  The  forests  of  Asia,  Africa, 
South  America,  and  Australia,  are  not  half  examined,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  that  their  investigation  would  amply  re¬ 
pay  the  trouble.  There  were  several  new  and  peculiar  sub¬ 
stances  of  this  class  shown  in  the  Great  Exhibition,  but  for 
the  present  I  shall  merely  mention  one,  namely,  the  Catti- 
mundoo,  contributed  from  Vizianagram,  a  substance  pos¬ 
sessing  many  of  the  properties  of  gutta  pcrcha,  and  which  is 
certainly  likely  to  become  a  valuable  import. 


Oils. 

On  turning  to  the  great  class  of  vegetable  oils,  we  find 
the  same  rich  abundance  of  nature  to  admire ;  and  here,  as 
in  the  preceding  case,  we  cannot  but  wonder  at  the  com¬ 
paratively  small  number  used  by  manufacturers,  out  of  the 
hundreds  presented  to  us  by  the  fruitful  earth.  It  would 
seem  almost,  as  if  in  regard  to  the  productions  of  the  earth, 
there  were  certain  vested  rights  which  might  not  be  set 
aside,  and  that  we  were  bound  to  go  on  importing  and  using 
the  same  substances  which  our  ancestors  did,  irrespective 
of  the  question,  whether  other  substances  might  not  be 
advantageously  substituted  for  them.  Of  late  years  attention 
has  been  paid  to  some  of  the  many  good  vegetable  oils  of 
Asia  and  Africa,  and  large  quantities  have  been  imported ; 
yet  there  are  still  many  which  are  quite  as  good,  but  almost 
unknown,  though  new  oils  are  anxiously  desired  by  candle 
and  soap  makers,  by  wool-spinners,  by  engineers  in  general 
for  diminishing  friction,  and  for  various  other  purposes. 
Cocoa-nut  and  palm-oil  have  been  extensively  imported 
from  Ceylon  and  the  coast  of  Africa,  chiefly  for  the  manu¬ 
facture  of  candles ;  but  there  are,  besides  these,  at  least  two 
dozen  other  solid  vegetable  oils,  almost  unknown  to  com¬ 
merce,  and  well  worthy  the  attention  of  manufacturers,  such 
as  the  vegetable  tallow  of  the  Yateria  indica,  the  fat  of  the 
various  Bassias,  the  oil  of  the  Carapa,  the  oils  of  the  Gar- 
cinia  and  of  the  Y ernonia,  the  vegetable  tallows  of  China 
and  the  Archipelago  Islands.  The  various  vegetable  waxes, 
too,  of  which  there  are  likewise  many,  and  which  may  be 
had  largely  in  Mexico,  South  Africa,  and  North  America, 


IN  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES. 


195 


deserve  notice.  Some  of  these  substances  are  already 
becoming  known  to  manufacturers,  especially  certain  of  the 
kinds  of  vegetable  tallow  from  China;  and  the  importation 
of  vegetable  was  is  increasing.  Till  recently,  indeed,  the 
latter  substance  could  not  be  imported  into  England,  for 
the  high  duty  imposed  upon  it  amounted  to  a  prohibition. 
Whilst  bees’  wax  paid  a  duty  of  10s.  per  cwt.,  vegetable 
wax  was  charged  hi.  12s.,  or  at  the  rate  of  112?.  per  ton. 
Recently  the  duty  has  been  equalized,  and  the  protection 
which  long  existed  in  favour  of  bees  has  been  withdrawn. 

Amongst  the  fluid  fixed  oils,  similar  facts  are  to  be 
observed;  there  are  many  excellent  oils  wholly  unknown 
to  commerce,  but  admirably  adapted  to  the  wants  and  re¬ 
quirements  of  manufacturers;  these,  too,  arc  waiting  for 
some  fortunate  circumstance  to  bring  them  to  the  notice  of 
those  able  to  turn  them  to  practical  uses.  Let  us  hope  that 
it  may  n^t  be  the  devastating  and  paralyzing  influence  of 
war  which  shall  give  rise  to  the  introduction  of  these  sub¬ 
stances  !  I  might  mention  many  curious  facts  to  show  how 
difficult  it  is  to  introduce  a  new  article  of  trade,  however 
good,  if  in  any  way  it  interferes  with  the  established  custom 
and  routine  of  commerce,  and  how  in  some  cases  it  can  only 
be  brought  in  under  a  false  name,  in  order  to  obtain  an 
entrance  into  our  ports  !  Till  quite  recently  the  linseed  oil 
required  for  Government  use,  throughout  the  Indian  empire, 
was  wholly  sent  out  from  Europe ;  and  it  is  only  within  the 
last  few  years  that  it  has  been  found  out  that  the  native- 
grown  linseed  is  quite  as  good  as  the  best  which  can  be  had 
from  Europe. 

In  preparing  oils  for  exportation,  some  care  and  attention 
must  be  paid ;  when  well  expressed,  oil  has  little  tendency 
to  change,  but  when  prepared  in  a  careless  and  slovenly 
manner,  contaminated  with  mucilage  and  other  matters  from 
the  seed,  it  soon  becomes  rancid,  and  then  will  not  bear  a 
sea  voyage  of  any  length.  The  value  of  these  new  oils, 
therefore,  will  mainly  depend  on  the  care  and  skill  bestowed 
upon  their  preparation  :  if  expressed  with  rude  and  imperfect 
machinery,  they  will  arrive  foul,  discoloured,  rancid,  and  of 
little  value;  whilst,  if  carefully  prepared,  they  will  come 
over  fresh  and  sweet,  and  fit  for  any  purpose  in  the  arts  to 
which  they  may  be  applied.  Again,  in  collecting  these  oils 


196 


ON  THE  VEGETABLE  SUBSTANCES  USED 


in  our  colonies  ai:d  elsewhere,  some  system  must  be  adopted 
for  the  cultivation  and  preservation  of  the  plants  yielding 
them;  the  supply  cannot  fail  to  be  small  and  uncertain,  if 
the  same  reckless  mode  of  cutting  down  trees  is  adopted,  as 
has  been  the  case  with  the  trees  yielding  gutta  percha  and 
caoutchouc, — a  system  which,  gradually  but  surely,  leads  to 
the  extinction  of  the  trees  themselves.  These  remarks  may 
to  some  seem  almost  self-evident,  but  they  are  nevertheless 
generally  overlooked,  and  the  usual  consequences  are  dis¬ 
appointment,  failure,  and  ruin. 

Several  of  the  little  known  volatile  oils  were  highly 
interesting;  the  sweet-scented,  fragrant  ones  are  all  of 
value,  though  their  importance  in  the  arts  is  fast  diminish¬ 
ing,  as  the  progress  of  science  brings  us  nearer  and  nearer 
to  the  mode  of  preparing  them  artificially.  Amongst  these 
oils  several  are  of  value,  in  consequence  of  their  strong  sol¬ 
vent  powers  over  resin.  Thus,  for  example,  we  have  the 
excellent  oil  of  the  Eucalyptus  piperita  and  Leptispermum, 
from  New  South  Wales; — that  country  yielding  at  the  same 
time  valuable  resins,  and  essential  oils  capable  of  dissolving 
them,  and  thus  of  rendering  them  practically  useful  in  the 
arts. 

In  connexion  with  this  part  of  my  subject,  I  would  also 
draw  your  attention  to  a  class  of  curious  empyreumatic 
volatile  oils,  obtained  by  the  destructive  distillation  of  the 
bark  of  trees,  such  as  the  birch-oil  of  Russia,  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  Russian  leather,  and  from  which  it  derives 
its  well-known  fragrant  odour,  and  its  power  of  withstand¬ 
ing  the  attacks  of  insects  and  the  progress  of  decay.  This 
oil  does  not  appear  to  be  so  well  known  as  it  deserves ;  it 
might  probably  be  used  for  other  purposes  besides  the  pre¬ 
servation  of  leather ;  it  is  possible,  likewise,  that  similar  oils 
might  be  obtained  by  the  destructive  distillation  cf  the  bark 
of  other  trees. 


Dyes. 

*  . 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  art  which  has  undergone  more  im¬ 
portant  changes  and  alterations  during  the  last  halt  century1 
than  that  of  dyeing ;  and  here,  as  in  all  other  branches  ot 
applied  science,  we  find  many  points  of  interest  in  studying 


IN  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES.  197 

the  vegetable  raw  products  employed,  which  are,  as  it  were, 
the  ores  from  which  precious  metal  is  to  be  extracted,  by 
the  skill  and  knowledge  of  the  manufacturer.  Some  of 
these  changes  were  shown  in  a  very  interesting  and  instruc¬ 
tive  way  in  the  Great  Exhibition,  where  we  had  the  rude 
but  efficient  dye-stuffs  of  our  ancestors,  contrasted  with  the 
more  elaborate  processes,  and  more  refined  dyeing  materials, 
of  the  present  day;  at  the  same  time,  it  is  impossible  not 
to  recognise  the  eminently  progressive  character  of  the  art, 
which  we  may  fairly  anticipate  will  undergo  as  important 
changes  in  the  coming  half  century,  as  it  has  experienced 
during  the  past.  To  some  extent  we  may  form  an  estimate 
of  the  state  to  which  the  art  has  arisen  in  each  country,  by 
observing  the  dye-stuffs  employed;  and  in  most  cases,  where 
woad,  bugloss,  and  weld,  are  the  chief  sources  of  blue,  red, 
and  yellow,  we  may  safely  conclude  that  comparatively  little 
progress  has  been  made  in  the  application  of  practical  sci¬ 
ence  to  the  art  of  dyeing. 

It  would  be  foreign  to  our  subject  at  present  to  enter  at 
all  into  the  operations  of  the  dyer,  and  I  shall,  therefore, 
confine  myself  to  the  consideration  of  the  materials  of  his 
art,  quite  independent  of  the  manner  in  which  he  employs 
them.  It  is  obvious  that  those  dye-stuffs  which  require  no 
preparation,  but  which,  like  log-wood,  fustic,  and  madder, 
are  yielded  by  nature  in  a  state  fit  for  immediate  use,  arc 
under  very  different  circumstances  from  those  which,  like 
indigo,  litmus,  and  annotto,  undergo  a  process  of  prepara¬ 
tion  before  they  are  fit  for  the  market.  But  even  in  the 
case  of  those  which  seem  to  require  nothing  more  than  the 
axe  of  the  woodman,  very  great  and  important  differences 
are  to  be  observed.  Climate,  soil,  and  cultivation,  produce 
the  most  marked  differences  in  the  growth  of  plants,  and 
consequently  also  in  the  production  of  colouring  matters. 
One  illustration  of  this  will  perhaps  serve  as  well  as  many, 
and  will  show  not  only  how  the  production  of  dyes  is  regu¬ 
lated  by  apparently  small  circumstances,  but  also  how  those 
circumstances  may  be  controlled  and  modified  by  the  judi¬ 
cious  application  of  science.  It  was  observed  that  some  of 
the  madder  grown  near  Avignon  was  inferior  in  the  richness 
and  brilliancy  of  its  colour  to  that  produced  in  other  dis¬ 
tricts;  and  the  proprietors  being  anxious  to  discover  the 
17  * 


198 


ON  THE  VEGETABLE  SUBSTANCES  USED 


cause,  were  led  to  institute  a  chemical  examination  of  the 
soil  of  their  own  land,  in  comparison  with  that  of  some  of 
the  best  madder  farms;  the  result  showed  that  their  soil 
was  deficient  in  lime,  whilst  all  the  others  contained  it. 
They  were,  therefore,  induced  to  give  their  land  a  good 
dressing  of  lime,  and  the  result  fully  justified  them,  for  the 
next  year  their  crop  of  madder  was  inferior  to  none.  The 
value  of  all  these  dye-stuffs  depends  on  the  care  bestowed 
on  their  cultivation,  and  upon  the  attention  paid  to  their 
collection  and  preservation,  so  that  they  may  not  suffer  in¬ 
jury  either  from  carelessness,  or  from  adulteration.  The 
importance  of  vegetable  colouring  matters  generally  is 
somewhat  diminished  by  the  numerous  chemical  discove¬ 
ries  which  have  introduced  to  the  dyer  mineral  or  inorganic 
substitutes  for  many  of  them;  but,  at  the  same  time,  chemi¬ 
cal  science  has  so  greatly  improved  most  of  the  processes 
of  dyeing,  that  the  dyer,  by  means  of  its  aid,  is  now  able 
to  get  many  colours  from  the  old  vegetable  dye-stuffs,  which 
were  quite  out  of  the  power  of  his  predecessors.  The  im¬ 
provements  in  calico-printing,  and  dyeing  in  many  colours, 
have  gradually  given  rise  to  a  demand  for  new  colours  and 
new  dyes,  so  that  at  the  present  time  good  or  promising 
new  colours  are  received  with  a  considerable  degree  of  in¬ 
terest.  Fortunately,  there  are  many  of  these,  and  not  a 
few  which  may  be  had  in  large  quantities,  and  at  low  prices. 

Owing  to  the  progress  of  the  art,  many  colouring  mat¬ 
ters  which  a  few  years  since  were  regarded  as  of  little  or 
no  value,  are  gradually  rising  in  estimation;  when  first  in¬ 
troduced,  they  were  tried  as  substitutes  for  the  ordinary 
dye-stuff's,  and  were  treated  in  the  same  way  as  those  dye¬ 
stuffs  commonly  were ;  the  result  was  far  from  promising,  and 
they  were  accordingly  condemned.  Now,  however,  new 
modes  of  operating  are  introduced, — the  colouring  matter  is 
treated  in  accordance  with  the  known  laws  of  chemistry; 
and  good  and  useful  colours  are  obtained  from  it.  Mun- 
jeet,  Ohay  root,  and  many  other  dye-stuffs,  are  in  this  man¬ 
lier  gradually  coming  into  use  and  estimation. 

The  advancements  which  have  been  made  in  the  manu¬ 
facture  of  mixed  fabrics,  call  for  corresponding  changes 
and  improvements  in  the  art  of  dyeing,  and  render  new 
inodes  of  dyeing,  as  well  as  new  dyes,  highly  desirable.  A 


IN  TELE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES.  199 

dye  which  serves  well  for  wool  or  cotton,  frequently  will 
not  take  on  silk  or  flax ;  and,  consequently,  though  it  will 
do  very  well  for  any  one  of  these  fabrics  alone,  it  is  of  little 
use  for  a  mixed  fabric  composed  of  two  different  fibres. 
Amongst  some  of  the  little  known  native  dyes  of  India  and 
other  countries,  there  are  many  well  deserving  of  careful 
examination ;  such,  for  example,  as  the  black  indigo  of  the 
Shan  country,  the  black  dye  of  New  Zealand,  and  others. 

Dye-stuffs,  for  the  most  part,  are  bulky  and  heavy  sub¬ 
stances,  the  carriage  of  which  for  any  distance,  by  land,  or 
even  by  water,  makes  a  very  serious  addition  to  their  cost ; 
and,  consequently,  every  mode  of  increasing  the  proportion 
per  cent,  of  colouring  matter  is  worthy  of  consideration; 
and  those  modes  of  preparation  are  best  which  yield  the 
largest  quantity  of  colour,  and  the  least  quantity  of  useless 
fibrous  matter.  Owing  to  the  judicious  manner  in  which 
the  Chinese  safflower  is  collected,  it  contains  far  more  of  the 
fine  red  colouring  matter,  and  is  consequently  worth  four  or 
five  times  as  much  in  the  market,  as  the  best  Bengal  saf¬ 
flower  ;  in  addition  to  which,  from  want  of  due  care  in  the 
drying,  the  latter  is  sometimes  so  much  injured  during  the 
sea  voyage  as  to  be  deteriorated  at  least  fifty  per  cent.  The 
loss  thus  sustained  is  often  set  down  to  “  the  nature  of  the 
drug,”  and  not  to  the  careless  habits  of  those  employed  in 
collecting  it ! 

When  we  remember  how  many  thousand  tons  of  dyeing 
woods  are  annually  imported,  and  how  many  thousand  tons 
of  it  are  absolutely  useless  woody  fibre,  we  cannot  help 
coming  to  the  conclusion  that  here  chemical  science  might 
be  applied  with  great  advantage,  and  that  if  colonists  could 
be  taught  how  to  extract  and  concentrate  the  true  colouring 
principles  of  these  woods,  much  unprofitable  labour  and 
expense  ■would  be  saved;  nay  more,  these  concentrated  dye¬ 
stuffs  might  be  profitably  imported  from  places  from  which 
the  cost  of  carriage  would  altogether  prevent  the  importa¬ 
tion  of  the  dye-stuff  in  its  raw  state.  This  is  a  matter  of 
great  practical  importance,  and  one  which  has  not  yet  re¬ 
ceived  that  attention  which  it  deserves ;  there  are  no  doubt 
difficulties  in  the  way,  but  after  the  many  triumphs  which 
science  has  achieved,  we  surely  need  not  be  deterred  by  any 
ordinary  difficulties.  The  consideration  of  this  subject  na- 


200 


ON  THE  VEGETABLE  SUBSTANCES  USED 


turally  leads  to  one  very  closely  connected  with  it$  namely, 
the  various  substances  used  in  tanning;  in  which,  to  some 
extent,  the  object  just  suggested  has  already  been  realized. 
The  most  experienced  tanners  all  agree,  that  no  substance 
has  yet  been  introduced,  capable  of  replacing  good  oak-bark 
in  their  art,  but,  at  the  same  time,  they  readily  allow  that 
many  substances  are  of  great  value  as  aids  to  oak-bark,  and 
in  the  preparation  of  particular  kinds  of  leather.  The 
number  of  astringent  barks  and  woods  suitable  for  this  art 
is  very  large ;  but,  with  few  exceptions,  the  cost  of  freight 
would  prohibit  their  being  brought  from  any  distance  :  in 
such  cases  extracts  have  been  made,  and  imported  either  in 
the  dry  and  solid  form,  like  catechu  and  kino,  or  as  a  thick 
solution,  like  the  mimosa  extract  of  New  Holland.  The 
value  of  these  extracts  depends  in  a  great  measure  on  the 
mode  in  which  they  are  prepared  ;  they  should  be  rapidly 
concentrated,  and  exposed  as  little  as  possible  to  the  air 
during  evaporation,  or  otherwise  they  sutler  a  considerable 
degree  of  decomposition,  and  their  value  is  proportionably 
diminished. 


Cotton. 

I  would  now  draw  your  attention  to  another,  and  a  very 
important  division  of  raw  produce,  namely,  fibrous  materials, 
including  cotton,  flax,  hemp,  and  a  number  of  less  exten¬ 
sively  used  but  still  highly  valuable  products,  constituting 
the  great  elements  of  several  of  our  most  important  manu¬ 
factures.  In  the  first  place,  let  us  briefly  consider  the  nature 
of  cotton,  of  which  this  country  imports  at  present  about 
eight  hundred  million  pounds  a-year,  the  value  of  which, 
when  manufactured,  can  hardly  be  estimated  under  thirty 
millions  sterling. 

Cotton  may  be  generally  described  as  a  soft,  white,  tubu¬ 
lar  fibre  found  in  the  capsule  of  the  Gossypium,  or  cotton 
shrub,  and  adhering  to  the  seeds.  Further,  it  is  well  known 
that  there  are  a  great  number  of  different  varieties  of  cotton 
distinguished  by  marked  peculiarities,  and  known  in  com¬ 
merce  either  by  the  name  of  the  country  in  which  they  are 
indigenous,  or  by  some  term  expressive  of  their  peculiar 
properties.  These  differences  are  not  merely  to  be  traced 


IN  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES.  201 

to  peculiarities  of  soil,  climate,  and  cultivation,  though  they 
unquestionably  exert  a  most  remarkable  influence  in  modi¬ 
fying  the  nature  of  the  fibre,  but  are  caused  by  distinct 
varieties  in  the  plant  itself.  Botanists  have  shown  that 
there  are  at  least  four  separate  and  well-marked  species  of 
the  genus  Gossypium,  namely,  G.  Barbadense,  of  which  Sea 
Island  and  Bourbon  cotton  are  varieties ;  G.  Peruvianum , 
the  Pernambuco  or  Brazil  cotton;  G.  Arboreum ,  which 
yields  the  Nurma,  or  native  cotton  of  India ;  and  G .  Indi- 
cum,  the  cotton  of  the  Mediterranean,  Africa,  India,  China, 
&c.  Of  these,  the  Sea  Island  has  the  longest,  and  the  Ben¬ 
gal  the  shortest  staple  or  fibre. 

The  chief  supplies  of  this  important  article  are  obtained 
from  the  United  States,  for  about  84  per  cent,  of  the  whole 
quantity  of  cotton  annually  consumed  in  Great  Britain  is 
imported  from  North  America;  about  10  per  cent,  from  the 
East  Indies;  nearly  4  per  cent,  from  Brazil;  and  rather 
more  than  2  per  cent,  from  the  Mediterranean.  In  North 
America  the  cotton  plant  grows  freely  and  luxuriantly,  and 
its  cultivation  and  the  collection  of  the  fibre  have  reached 
such  a  state  of  systematic  excellence,  that  there  appears 
little  further  improvement  to  desire.  The  Sea  Island  cot¬ 
ton  is  long  and  yet  fine,  strong  and  at  the  same  time  silky; 
whilst  from  the  careful  manner  in  which  the  crop  is  ga¬ 
thered,  the  excellent  mode  in  which  the  seeds  are  separated 
from  the  fibre,  and  the  good  arrangements  followed  in 
cleaning  and  packing  it,  the  North  American  cotton  reaches 
Europe  in  the  best  possible  condition  for  the  subsequent 
operations  of  the  manufacturer. 

Next  in  importance  as  cotton-producers  stand  the  British 
possessions  in  the  East,  but  here  not  only  have  we  a  differ¬ 
ent  variety  of  cotton  to  consider,  but  also  a  different  soil,  a 
different  climate,  and,  above  all,  a  different  race  of  people 
to  cultivate  it.  The  native  cotton  of  India  has  a  far  shorter 
fibre  than  that  of  North  America;  little  care  is  bestowed  on 
its  cultivation  and  collection,  and  little  care  is  taken  to  pro¬ 
tect  it  from  injury,  after  it  is  collected.  That  the  fibre  is 
good  and  fit  for  manufacturing  purposes  is  evident;  for  the 
muslins  woven  in  the  looms  of  India  have  long  shown  how 
the  labour  and  ingenuity  of  the  natives  could  with  this 
cotton,  even  in  spite  of  careless  cultivation,  and  imperfect 


202  ON  THE  VEGETABLE  SUBSTANCES  USED 

methods,  more  than  match  European  skill,  though  aided 
with  all  the  appliances  of  modern  science  and  mechanical 
invention. 

For  a  long  series  of  years  the  attention  of  the  East  India 
Company  has  been  directed  to  the  improvement  of  the  cot¬ 
ton  cultivation,  and  many  costly  experiments  have  been 
made.  In  general,  the  result  of  these  attempts  has  been, 
that  little  success  has  attended  the  introduction  of  long 
staple  Sea  Island  cotton  into  India.  At  the  same  time, 
however,  it  has  been  most  satisfactorily  proved  that,  with 
due  care  and  attention,  excellent  New  Orleans  cotton  may 
be  cultivated  in  the  Indian  Empire;  and  further,  it  has 
been  shown,  that  with  improved  cultivation,  with  good 
modes  of  cleaning,  and  with  constant  care,  the  native 
Indian  cottons  may  be  so  improved  in  character,  as  to 
become  of  far  more  value  in  the  market  than  they  at  pre¬ 
sent  possess.  It  is  proved  that  the  deficiencies  of  East 
Indian  cotton  do  not  depend  on  any  inferiority  of  soil  or 
climate,  but  merely  on  the  careless  or  ignorant  practices 
of  those  who  cultivate  it;  and  that,  with  continued  care 
and  attention,  and  by  persevering  in  the  introduction  of 
improved  methods,  a  complete  change  will  in  time  be 
effected,  so  that,  ere  long,  any  quantity  of  sound  and  good 
cotton  may  be  imported"  for  the  use  of  manufacturers  from 
British  India. 

The  cotton  at  present  imported  from  the  British  colonies 
does  not  quite  amount  to  a  million  pounds  yearly,  not  an 
eighth  part  of  one  per  cent,  of  the  whole  quantity  imported; 
it  is,  however,  rapidly  increasing,  and  as  regards  quality,  is 
highly  deserving  of  praise.  The  cotton  of  British  Guiana 
is  excellent,  and  some  of  that  lately  sent  over  from  the  South 
African  colonies  is  also  very  promising.  Considerable  pro¬ 
gress  is  also  being  made  in  the  cultivation  of  cotton  in  the 
northern  parts  of  Africa;  the  specimens  contributed  from 
Algeria  give  ample  evidence  that  its  cultivation  has  been 
well  and  judiciously  carried  on,  and  are  most  creditable  to 
the  colonists. 

The  operation  of  cotton-cleaning  is  one  of  very  great  im¬ 
portance,  for  unless  it  is  well  and  properly  carried  on,  all 
the  previous  cares  of  the  planter  are  of  little  avail ;  by  the 
term  “  cleaning”  is  not  meant  the  separation  of  accidental 


IN  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES. 


205 


impurities,  but  the  removal  of  the  seeds,  which  is  cither 
effected  by  an  appropriate  mechanical  arrangement  called  a 
“saw-gin,”  or  by  a  simple  roller;  considerable  difference  is 
found  to  exist  between  the  different  varieties  of  cotton,  in 
the  force  with  which  the  fibre  adheres  to  the  seed :  in  the 
black-seeded  varieties  it  separates  easily,  whilst  in  the  green- 
seeded  cotton  it  adheres  so  firmly,  that  it  can  only  be  sepa¬ 
rated  by  the  use  of  the  saw-gin.  In  using  this  instrument, 
in  which,  by  the  rapid  rotation  of  a  series  of  circular  saws, 
the  cotton  fibre  is  caught  and  pulled  from  the  seed,  care 
must  be  taken  or  the  fibre  will  be  injured,  by  being  broken 
or  cut  by  the  teeth  of  the  saw.  It  is  obvious  that  this  is  a 
serious  fault,  because  the  injury  done  cannot  be  remedied 
by  any  subsequent  treatment.  I  mention  it  now  chiefly 
because  some  of  the  finest  cotton  shown  in  the  Exhibition, 
though  beautiful  cotton,  clean,  fine,  and  strong,  was  evi¬ 
dently  injured  by  being  over-ginned. 

And  here,  before  dismissing  the  subject  of  cotton,  I 
would  say  a  few  words  respecting  Mr.  Mercer’s  new  process 
for  modifying  its  chemical  and  physical  properties,  not  only 
because  it  received  the  marked  approval  of  the  Jury,  but 
also  because  it  seems  likely  to  produce  very  important  altera¬ 
tions  in  the  manufacture  of  cotton  generally.  The  fibre  of 
cotton,  when  examined  by  a  lens,  is  found  to  consist  of  a 
flattened  or  ribbon-shaped  tube ;  when  treated  with  a  cold 
strong  solution  of  caustic  soda,  as  in  Mr.  Mercer’s  process, 
it  appears  to  shrink,  and  assumes  the  form  of  a  simple  cylin¬ 
der;  thus  three  important  and  very  remarkable  alterations 
occur  at  the  same  time, — the  fibre  becomes  stronger,  it 
acquires  increased  attraction  for  colouring  matter,  and  it 
becomes  smaller  :  the  process  is  at  once  cheap  and  effectual, 
and  the  cotton  is  decidedly  increased  in  value.  In  most 
cases  where  chemical  agency  is  applied  in  the  preparation 
of  vegetable  fibres,  either  to  remove  impurities,  to  destroy 
colour,  or  indeed  for  any  other  purpose,  the  object  in  view 
is  generally  attained  at  the  sacrifice  of  a  little  strength ;  it 
is  therefore  a  peculiar  feature  of  this  discovery  that  the 
valuable  properties  conferred  upon  the  cotton  are  not  only 
not  gained  at  the  sacrifice  of  its  strength,  but,  on  the  con 
trary,  are  even  accompanied  by  an  increase  of  tenacity. 


204 


ON  THE  VEGETABLE  SUBSTANCES  USED 


Flax. 

Passing  next  to  the  consideration  of  flax  and  hemp,  a  sub¬ 
ject  of  peculiar  interest  at  the  present  time  in  this  country, 
I  must  briefly  remind  you  of  the  leading  principles  followed 
in  their  preparation,  before  speaking  of  the  present  state  and 
future  prospects  of  this  important  branch  of  national  in¬ 
dustry.  The  stem  of  these  plants  consists  essentially  of  a 
woody  core,  and  a  sheath  of  fibrous  matter  surrounding  it, 
cemented  together  by  a  peculiar  sort  of  vegetable  glue, 
which  binds  the  whole  into  one  solid  reed  or  stem.  In  the 
preparation  of  flax,  the  great  object  in  view  is  the  removal 
of  this  matter,  so  that  the  fibrous  part  being  no  longer  bound 
together,  may  be  easily  separated  from  the  woody  part  of 
the  stem.  This  vegetable  glue  is  insoluble  in  water,  but 
when  steeped  in  that  liquid,  or  indeed  when  exposed  to 
moisture,  it  soon  begins  to  ferment  or  undergo  a  sort  of  slow 
putrefaction.  For  ages  it  has  been  the  practice  to  cause 
this  slow  putrefaction  of  the  stems,  either  by  exposing  the 
flax  plant  to  the  dew,  or  by  steeping  it  in  ponds  or  pits  of 
stagnant  water,  or  by  sinking  it  in  the  bed  of  a  deep  and 
slowly  flowing  river.  To  all  of  these  three  modes  there  are 
serious  and  strong  objections  j  putrefaction  is  a  slow,  irre¬ 
gular,  uncertain,  and  unwholesome  process,  it  takes  up  much 
time,  and  the  result  is  uncertain,  because  if  it  is  not  closely 
watched  it  may  easily  proceed  too  far,  and  the  fibre  be  then 
destroyed  or  greatly  injured. 

From  time  to  time  various  ingenious  modes  of  preparing 
flax  by  machinery  have  been  devised,  in  which  by  the  simple 
application  of  suitable  mechanism  the  fibrous  part  should  at 
once  be  separated,  and  obtained  fit  for  spinning;  it  does  not 
appear  that  any  of  these  plans  were  found  practically  avail¬ 
able,  however  promising  they  seemed  when  first  they  were 
proposed. 

Within  the  last  few  years  an  important  improvement  has 
been  made  in  the  old  mode  of  retting  or  rotting,  which,  as 
it  remedies  some  of  its  defects,  is  certainly  a  step  in  the 
right  direction.  In  Schenck’s  process,  warm  water  is  used 
to  steep  the  flax  stems  in,  the  required  fermentation  is  at 
once  brought  on,  hours  in  place  of  days  are  necessary ;  and 
from  the  short  time  occupied,  the  certainty  with  which  the 


IN  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES.  205 

desired  effect  is  produced,  and  the  complete  control  which 
the  operator  has  over  it,  all  fear  of  over-retting  is  altogether 
removed.  The  practical  result,  which  may  now  be  con¬ 
sidered  as  satisfactorily  established,  is,  that  flax  retted  by 
Schenck’s  warm-water  process  is  equal  to  the  best  flax  as 
prepared  under  the  old  methods,  and  that  whilst  time  and 
money  are  economized,  and  some  of  the  objections  of  the 
old  methods  are  removed,  there  is  less  danger  of  injuring 
the  fibre,  and  hence  a  far  more  uniform  fibre  is  obtained ;  in 
fact,  the  average  product  of  the  new  mode  is  superior  to  the 
average  product  under  the  old  process. 

In  speaking  thus,  however,  of  this  method  of  preparing 
flax,  I  do  not  wish  to  express  anything  more  than  a  con¬ 
viction  that  it  is  a  marked  improvement  on  the  old  method ; 
I  do  not  consider  it  as  a  perfect  process,  or  one  that  leaves 
nothing  to  be  desired;  on  the  contrary,  I  am  strongly  im¬ 
pressed  with  its  faults  and  imperfections,  and  I  have  little 
doubt  that  in  a  few  years  we  shall  see  it  set  aside  and  super¬ 
seded  by  a  flu-  better  process.  Fermentation  is  at  best  but 
a  rude  and  imperfect  mode  of  separating  one  kind  of  vege¬ 
table  matter  from  the  others,  with  which  it  is  associated  in 
a  plant. 

Of  course  the  same  general  remarks  apply  also  in  the 
case  of  hemp,  which,  though  from  its  being  a  coarser  fibre, 
it  is  less  liable  than  flax  to  be  injured  in  retting,  is  unques¬ 
tionably  often  greatly  deteriorated  by  the  fermentation  to 
which  it  is  exposed;  indeed  in  the  old  modes  of  preparing 
hemp,  it  was  never  considered  to  be  retted  enough  until  it 
was  evidently  injured.  In  illustration  of  this  rather  strange 
statement,  let  me  refer  you  to  Antill’s  observations  on  dress¬ 
ing  hemp  :  he  says,  “  To  know  whether  the  hemp  is  rotted 
enough,  take  a  handful  out  of  the  middle  row,  and  try  with 
both  your  hands  to  snap  it  asunder,  if  it  break  easily  it  is 
rotted  enough,  but  if  it  yet  appear  pretty  strong,  it  is  not, 
and  must  lie  longer  till  it  breaks  with  ease.” 

Of  the  various  other  changes  which  the  cultivation  and 
preparation  of  flax  and  hemp  is  now  undergoing,  there  is 
only  one  to  which  I  would  draw  your  attention,  as  it  was 
prominently  brought  before  the  notice  of  the  Jury,  and  as 
it  has  excited  considerable  attention  from  the  accounts 
which  have  been  published  respecting  it  in  the  newspapers : 

18 


206  ON  THE  VEGETABLE  SUBSTANCES  USED 

I  refer  to  the  flax-cotton  of  Mr.  Claussen,  who  proposes  to 
convert  flax  into  a  sort  of  cotton,  or  rather,  by  the  action  of 
solutions  of  carbonate  of  soda  and  of  sulphuric  acid,  to  split 
up  and  divide  the  fibre,  thus  rendering  it  available  as  a  sub¬ 
stitute  for  cotton,  and  enabling  the  manufacturer  to  use  it 
in  mixed  fabrics,  by  spinning  it  in  combination  with  cotton, 
wool,  and  silk,  on  the  ordinary  machinery  used  at  present 
for  those  fibres.  I  must  confess  that  I  am  not  at  all  san¬ 
guine  as  to  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  this  proposal, 
though  I  think  it  by  no  means  impossible  that  it  may  here¬ 
after  lead  to  valuable  and  important  improvements. 

Fibres. 

I  now  come  to  the  third  division  of  vegetable  fibres,  and 
here  we  have  a  wide  and  very  comprehensive  subject  opened 
out  to  our  consideration,  namely,  the  various  substitutes 
for  flax  and  hemp.  The  most  important  of  these  are  Jute, 
the  fibre  of  certain  species  of  C 'or chorus  ;  Sun,  the  fibre  of 
the  C rot  alar  ia  ;  Manilla  hemp,  obtained  from  Musa  textilis 
and  paradisiacal  Coir,  the  fibre  of  the  cocoa-nut;  pine¬ 
apple  fibre ;  New  Zealand  flax ;  China  grass,  and  Calooee 
hemp,  obtained  from  various  species  of  Urtica.  In  calling 
these  the  most  important,  I  ought  perhaps  rather  to  say 
those  best  known  in  commerce ;  for  I  am  by  no  means  sure 
that  they  are  so  good  or  valuable  as  some  of  the  less  gene¬ 
rally  known  vegetable  fibres.  I  might  easily  enumerate  a 
long  list  of  plants,  yielding  strong  and  serviceable  fibres ; 
the  great  difficulty  which  hinders  their  practical  use  in  the 
arts,  is  the  want  of  a  good  and  easy  mode  of  separating 
them  from  the  other  vegetable  substances  with  which  they 
are  associated  in  the  plants.  That  process  which  shall  give 
us  the  means  of  preparing  hemp  and  flax  without  the  use 
of  fermentation,  will  probably  also  enable  us  to  use  many 
other  vegetable  fibres  quite  as  good,  if  not  even  better,  for 
most  purposes,  than  they  are.  Amongst  the  fibres  ot  India, 
and  of  South  America  in  particular,  there  are  several  which 
promise  hereafter  to  be  of  the  greatest  value ;  I  would  now 
only  mention  the  Jetee,  or  bow-string  hemp  of  llajmehal ; 
the  fibre  of  the  Calotropis  or  Asclepias  tenacissima ,  and  the 
fibres  of  the  Sanseveria  and  Hibiscus. 


IN  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES.  207 

The  attention  of  practical  men  has  leen  long  directed 
to  the  strong  and  very  beautiful  fibre  of  the  so-called  China 
grass,  which,  it  has  recently  been  shown,  is  closely  allied 
to,  if  not  identical  with,  the  Calooee  hemp,  or  Rhea  fibre 
of  India.  A  simple  but  efficacious  method  of  preparing 
this  valuable  fibre  has  lately  been  devised  by  Messrs. 
Wright,  depending  chiefly  on  the  solvent  powers  of  a  hot 
solution  of  carbonate  of  soda,  and  its  use  is  consequently 
rapidly  increasing,  particularly  in  the  formation  of  mixed 
fabrics ;  when  well  prepared  it  has  all  the  lustre  and  bril¬ 
liancy  of  silk.  There  is  no  doubt  that  with  a  little  trouble 
this  fibre  may  be  had  in  almost  unlimited  quantities  from 
India. 

Before  dismissing  the  subject  of  these  vegetable  fibres,  let 
me  remind  you  of  the  beautiful  silk  cotton  obtained  from 
the  Bombax  and  other  trees  in  various  parts  of  the  world. 
This  fibre  is  short  and  remarkably  elastic,  though  at  the 
same  time,  unfortunately,  very  tender;  it  is  in  India  spun 
into  a  loose  and  coarse,  but  very  warm,  cloth ;  whilst  in 
Europe  it  is  generally  considered  as  of  no  value;  lately  it 
has  been  applied  advantageously  in  America  to  the  manu¬ 
facture  of  silk  hats,  for  which  purpose  it  is  said  to  answer 
admirably.  Of  these  fibres,  likewise,  almost  unlimited 
quantities  may  be  had. 


Timber. 

And  now,  turning  to  the  last  class  of  raw  produce  under 
our  consideration,  let  us  devote  a  few  moments  to  the  im¬ 
portant  division  of  wood  and  timber;  a  subject  so  extensive, 
that  there  are  few  who  are  not  more  or  less  interested  in 
some  of  its  numerous  bearings,  and  the  many  purposes  to 
which  wood  is  applied,  whether  in  building  ships,  in  build¬ 
ing  houses,  for  engineering  purposes,  or  merely  as  an  article 
of  ornament. 

The  quantity  of  wood  of  all  kinds,  annually  imported  into 
Great  Britain,  is  not  much  less  than  ten  millions  of  cubic 
feet;  it  is,  therefore,  a  question  of  no  small  moment,  to 
know  from  whence  we  are  to  obtain  such  an  enormous 
quantity  in  future  years ;  which  are  the  best  woods,  and 


208 


ON  THE  VEGETABLE  SUBSTANCES  USED 


from  whence  we  may  expect  to  obtain  them  most  economi¬ 
cally,  and  with  the  least  risk  of  failure  in  the  supply. 

The  number  of  woods  at  present  admitted  as  first-rate 
for  ship-building  purposes  is  not  more  than  eight;  namely, 
English  oak,  live  oak,  African  oak,  teak,  saul,  greenheart, 
morra,  and  iron-bark:  the  latter  only  admitted  as  a  fiist- 
class  wood  since  the  opening  of  the  Great  Exhibition.  The 
number  used  in  ordinary  architecture  is,  of  course,  far 
greater;  and  the  number  used  for  the  ordinary  purposes  of 
the  carpenter  is  very  large,  because  in  each  country  the 
strongest,  cheapest,  or  handsomest  woods  are  employed, 
according  to  the  purpose  for  which  they  are  required. 

In  tracing  the  history  of  any  large  forest,  it  will  generally 
be  found  that  when  man  first  began  to  cut  down  the  trees, 
he  did  so  in  the  most  wasteful  and  reckless  manner,  without 
any  thought  for  those  who  should  come  after  him.  The  re¬ 
sult  has  usually  been,  that  in  a  brief  period  of  years,  the 
more  valuable  timber  trees  have  become  almost  extermi¬ 
nated,  no  care  having  been  taken,  by  the  regular  formation 
of  plantations,  to  insure  a  future  supply.  I  will  say  no¬ 
thing  of  the  extent  to  which  this  has  gone  in  foreign  coun¬ 
tries,  where  often  whole  forests  of  valuable  timber  have  been 
burnt  solely  for  the  sake  of  converting  their  ashes  into  ma¬ 
nure,  but  I  will  merely  remind  you  of  the  gradual  destruc¬ 
tion  of  timber  which  has  gone  on  for  centuries  in  our  own 
country,  leading,  as  it  did,  almost  to  the  extermination  ot 
the  pride  of  the  land,  the  oaks  of  old  England  !  It  was  not 
till  the  matter  became  one  of  urgent  necessity  that  steps  were 
taken  to  stay  the  evil.  It  was  the  gradual  falling  off  in  the 
supply  of  good  oak  suitable  for  ship-building  purposes  which 
led  to  the  importation  of  foreign  woods,  and  also  to  the  pur¬ 
chase  of  colonial-built  ships;  and  this  in  turn  has  led  to  a 
due  appreciation  of  the  real  value  of  some  of  those  woods. 
Almost  every  year  is  adding  to  the  list  of  acknowledged 
good  and  serviceable  timber  trees,  and  new  sources  are  con¬ 
stantly  being  discovered. 

It  has  never  before  happened  that  so  large  and  important 
a  collection  of  woods  has  been  brought  together,  as  we  had 
recently  an  opportunity  of  examining  in  the  Great  Exhibi¬ 
tion,  amounting  as  it  did  to  several  thousands.  There  were 
good  specimens  of  the  well-known  old  woods  of  commerce; 


IN  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES. 


209 


specimens  of  most  of  the  new  ones  recently  introduced,  and 
of  a  multitude  of  woods  wholly  unknown  to  commerce,  a 
good  many  of  which  possess  qualities  calculated  to  render 
them  highly  valuable  in  the  arts. 

Amongst  the  less  generally  known  woods  lately  intro¬ 
duced  into  commerce,  mention  may  be  made  of  the  morra 
and  greenheart  of  British  Guiana,  both  excellent  for  ship¬ 
building;  and  the  musk  wood,  blackwood,  Iduon  pine,  and 
blue  gum  of  Yan  Diemen’s  Land ;  the  three  former  valu¬ 
able  as  beautiful  ornamental  furniture  woods,  the  latter  an 
enormous  timber  tree,  which  promises  to  become  of  much 
importance  for  ship-building.  Fine  samples  of  the  wood 
of  various  species  of  Eucalyptus  were  also  contributed 
from  Western  Australia.  It  was  stated  that  one  of  these 
trees,  fourteen  feet  -in  diameter,  was  cut  down  on  purpose, 
and  that  a  plank  of  that  width  would  have  been  sent  over 
to  the  Exhibition,  but  that  it  was  found  impossible  to  do 
so,  for  want  of  saws  of  sufficient  size  to  cut  up  the  log.  Two 
slices  or  sections  cut  from  the  stem  of  one  of  these  magnifi¬ 
cent  trees  were,  however,  exhibited  by  Sir  William  Denison, 
though,  perhaps,  they  excited  less  attention  than  they  de¬ 
served,  from  the  circumstance  of  their  being  hidden  under 
the  pile  of  Canadian  woods  in  the  centre  of  the  nave ;  the 
larger  of  these  sections  was  about  six  feet  in  diameter,  the 
smaller  one  nearly  three ;  the  first  was  cut  four  feet  above 
the  surface  of  the  ground,  the  latter  at  a  height  of  134  feet, 
just  below  the  first  branch  ! 

Amongst  the  South  African  woods,  too,  there  is  one 
deserving  of  notice,  exhibited  under  the  name  of  red 
ebony ;  of  the  tree  which  produced  it  nothing  is  known, 
but  its  nature  is  so  peculiar,  and  its  properties  as  an  orna¬ 
mental  wood  are  so  valuable,  that  it  is  a  substance  of 
considerable  interest.  It  is  dense  and  tough,  has  a  fine 
red  colour,  and  is  so  close  and  uniform  in  grain,  that  it 
resembles  ivory  rather  than  wood.  It  promises  to  be  an 
important  addition  to  the  ornamental  hard  woods  of  com¬ 
merce. 

It  is  found  that  the  value  and  properties  of  wood  vary 
very  greatly  according  to  the  soil  and  climate  in  which  it 
grows;  it  is  well  known  that  the  oak  timber  grown  in 
neighbouring  parishes  often  varies  in  goodness  to  a  remark- 
18* 


210 


ON  THE  VEGETABLE  SUBSTANCES  USED 


able  degree,  and  certain  parts  of  England  used  formerly  to 
be  celebrated  as  yielding  the  most  valuable  ship  timber. 
Precisely  the  same  holds  good  on  a  large  scale,  and  the 
same  tree,  which  grown  in  one  country  affords  a  first-rate 
timber,  may  in  another  situation  yield  a  very  inferior 
wood.  Thus  the  wood  of  a  teak-tree  grown  in  Malabar 
will  be  decidedly  superior  in  quality  to  the  wood  of  one 
grown  in  Moulmein,  and  the  mahogany  grown  in  Cuba 
will  be  more  valuable  than  the  same  tree  grown  in  the 
swamps  of  Honduras.  It  is  unnecessary  to  point  out  the 
important  bearing  of  these  facts  on  the  formation  and  ma¬ 
nagement  of  forests. 

Next  in  importance  to  obtaining  good  wood,  the  modes 
of  seasoning  and  preserving  it  ought  to  be  mentioned ;  and 
when  we  remember  how  prone  vegetable  matter  is  to  decay, 
and  how  much  often  depends  on  the  soundness  of  a  single 
plank,  I  need  not  say  much  as  to  the  careful  study  and 
consideration  which  this  subject  deserves.  The  evils  aris¬ 
ing  from  the  decay  of  wood  are  innumerable,  and  it  is  only 
from  the  frequency  of  their  occurrence  that  we  are  at  last 
led  to  regard  them  as  almost  necessary,  and  without  a  rem¬ 
edy.  The  decay  of  wood  used  in  buildings  is,  indeed,  a 
matter  of  the  most  serious  importance,  but  it  is  far  more  so 
in  all  those  cases  where  the  timber  is  either  sunk  in  the 
ground  or  plunged  under  water.  Let  me  remind  you, 
by  the  way,  that  the  room  in  which  we  now  are,  and, 
indeed,  all  the  surrounding  buildings  on  the  bank  of 
the  Thames,  are  entirely  supported  on  wooden  piles  ; 
and  these  are  all,  no  doubt,  in  a  greater  or  less  state  of 
decay. 

To  meet  these  evils  the  ingenuity  of  man  has  been  di¬ 
rected,  in  the  first  instance,  to  modes  of  drying  and  season¬ 
ing  woods,  whereby  those  matters  in  it  most  liable  to  decay 
are  removed,  or  rendered  more  stable ;  and,  secondly,  to 
methods  of  impregnating  wood  with  various  substances,  cal¬ 
culated  to  preserve  it  from  change.  It  is  evident  that  the 
merits  of  any  plan  of  this  kind  cannot  be  ascertained  for  a 
great  number  of  years,  because  until  it  shall  have  been 
practically  tested  by  satisfactory  trials  extending  over  a 
long  period  of  time,  its  value  cannot  be  considered  as  proved, 
and  any  premature  statement  can  only  be  considered  as  an 


IN  TIIE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES. 


211 


assertion  or  matter  of  opinion.  Amongst  those  plans 
which  have  excited  most  attention  are  those  of  Messrs. 
Coucherie,  Burnett,  Bethell,  and  Payne ;  and  some  of  the 
results  already  obtained  are  certainly  highly  promising. 
On  the  subject  of  timber,  as  in  all  the  preceding  classes, 
there  is  the  same  want  of  imformation,  and  the  same  diffi¬ 
culty  in  learning  that  which  is  known.  Of  the  new  woods 
only  just  introduced  for  ornamental  purposes,  such  as 
the  Huon  pine,  specimens  have  long  remained  concealed 
in  cabinets  and  museums,  and  very  nearly  the  same  may 
be  said  concerning  the  more  important  timber  trees,  such 
as  the  iron-bark.  On  the  other  hand,  of  the  eight 
acknowledged  first-class  woods,  one  at  least,  namely,  the 
African  oak,  is  the  produce  of  an  unknown  tree ;  in 
fact,  all  that  is  known  about  it  is,  that  it  certainly  is  not 
an  oak  ! 

In  this  necessarily  very  brief  and  imperfect  sketch  of 
some  of  the  points  of  interest  connected  with  the  six  great 
divisions  of  vegetable  raw  produce,  I  have  been  obliged  alto¬ 
gether  to  leave  out  all  mention  of  the  new  and  unexamined 
substances,  of  which  a  considerable  number  have  for  the  first 
time  been  introduced  to  our  notice  in  the  Great  Exhibition  : 
of  these  I  will  only  say,  I  earnestly  hope  they  will  not  be 
set  aside  as  mere  curiosities,  that  they  will  neither  be  placed 
out  of  reach,  on  the  upper  shelves  of  our  museum  galleries, 
nor  yet  consigned  to  oblivion  in  their  cellars  ! 


Before  concluding,  then,  let  me  remind  you  of  the  practi¬ 
cal  conclusions  to  be  drawn  from  this  department  of  the 
Great  Exhibition;  and  the  facts,  whether  old  or  new,  which 
it  has  brought  out  in  a  striking  manner. 

The  wants,  the  curiosity,  and  the  ingenuity  of  man,  have 
made  him  acquainted  with  the  uses  and  properties  of  many 
of  the  productions  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  ;  but,  neverthe¬ 
less,  all  that  he  knows,  and  all  that  he  has  done,  does  not 
amount  to  a  tenth  part  of  that  which  yet  remains  to  be  studied 
and  applied.  Our  trade  and  commerce  is  but  a  trifle  com¬ 
pared  to  the  almost  boundless  wealth  of  Nature. 

Our  traders,  our  manufacturers,  and  our  men  of  science, 
are  wholly  ignorant  of  many  matters  connected  with  these 


212  ON  THE  VEGETABLE  SUBSTANCES  USED 

subjects-  and  the  prejudices  of  men  of  business,  the  forms 
of  trade,  the  regulations  of  the  custom-house,  t-he  influence 
of  laws,  and  the  indifference  of  men  of  science,  have  all  con¬ 
tributed  to  retard  the  spread  of  such  knowledge. 

If  any  one  thinks,  that  in  saying  this  I  am  at  all  over¬ 
stating  the  truth,  let  him  endeavour  to  learn  the  history 
and  developement  of  any  one  trade,  and  he  will  be  sur¬ 
prised  at  the  difficulties  which  he  encounters.  As  I  have 
said  before,  wre  have  no  books  which  contain  full  and  com¬ 
plete  accounts  of  any  single  class  of  raw  produce,  scientific, 
practical,  commercial,  and  statistical ;  nor  have  we  collections 
in  which  the  things  themselves  are  arranged,  and  the  informa¬ 
tion  deposited.  The  books  which  treat  of  these  matters  are 
meagre  and  incomplete ;  old  facts  are  left  out  because  they 
are  old,  and,  perhaps,  because  in  the  opinion  of  the  author, 
they  are  of  no  value,  and  no  references  are  given  to  those 
previous  authors  who  have  studied  the  same  subject.  Our 
hard-working  and  laborious  neighbours,  the  Germans,  have 
long  felt  the  necessity  of  always  giving  lists  of  authorities, 
and  hence  their  books  are  in  many  cases  far  more  valuable 
than  our  own,  not  only  more  full  and  copious,  but  also  of 
far  more  use  to  the  student  after  truth,  because  they  guide 
him,  and  enable  him  to  become  a  thorough  master  of  his 
subject  by  referring  him  at  once  to  the  works  of  all  those 
who  have  written  upon  it. 

On  the  various  branches  of  pure  science  we  have  many 
and  excellent  books;  but  on  applied  science,  and  on  the 
relation  of  natural  science  to  the  arts  and  manufactures,  we 
have  few  deserving  the  name.  In  the  case  of  the  applica¬ 
tions  of  human  ingenuity,  as  in  that  of  the  productions  ot 
Nature,  we  have  the  same  imperfect  means  of  acquiring 
knowledge — even  those  inventions  which  have  received  the 
special  protection  of  the  Government, — patented  inventions ; 
if  you  would  trace  the  progress  of  the  improvement  which 
any  art  has  undergone,  you  must  undertake  a  search  as 
tedious,  as  troublesome,  and  almost  as  expensive,  as  a  search 
for  an  old  will  in  the  musty  recesses  of  the  Consistorial  Pre¬ 
rogative  Office  ! 

If,  then,  you  would  make  yourself  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  such  a  subject,  you  must  wade  through  many  books. 
First,  you  will  have  difficulty  in  knowing  what  books  to 


IN  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES.  213 

refer  to ;  then  you  will  have  trouble  in  knowing  where  to  find 
them  :  and  after  all,  when  you  have  got  over  these  difficul¬ 
ties,  in  all  probability  you  will  be  disappointed,  because  the 
books  will  not  have  taught  you  half  you  desire  to  know. 
Now,  the  practical  result  that  necessarily  follows  from  these 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  knowledge  is,  that  true  progress  is 
retarded ;  time,  labour,  money,  and  ingenuity,  are  all  wasted, 
in  re-inventing  old  inventions,  and  in  discovering  facts  which 
a  previous  generation  had  already  discovered.  Truly  may 
we  say,  “  Life  is  short,  but  art  is  long.” 

The  Society  of  Arts  is  one  of  the  chief,  and  for  a  long 
time  was,  in  fact,  the  only  public  body  established  for  the 
promotion  of  industrial  art;  and  at  its  first  foundation  it 
endeavoured  to  act  the  part  of  a  mediator  between  the  culti¬ 
vators  of  raw  produce  and  the  manufacturing  consumers. 
It  offered  premiums  for  the  discovery  and  introduction  of 
all  sorts  of  useful  materials,  and  expended  considerable  sums 
in  developing  the  productive  resources  of  our  colonies.  It 
pointed  out  the  wants  and  requirements  of  mechanics,  and 
at  the  same  time  drew  attention  to  those  articles  of  raw  pro¬ 
duce,  which  especially  stood  in  need  of  improvement.  The 
Society  deserves  the  highest  praise  for  the  good  which  it 
has  done,  but  at  the  same  time  we  cannot  help  regretting 
that  it  has  not  done  much  more.  In  the  Great  Exhibition 
there  were  innumerable  examples  of  the  skill  and  ingeuuity 
wasted  in  re-inventing  old  inventions;  and  in  the  same  way 
you  would  be  surprised,  on  looking  over  the  early  volumes 
of  the  Society’s  Transactions,  to  find  how  many  of  the  im¬ 
portant  inventions  of  modern  days  arc  contained  in  them. 
Let  me  refer  you,  for  example,  to  the  volumes  for  1775  and 
for  1801.  In  these  you  will  find  references  to  the  silk-cot¬ 
ton,  the  cotton-seed  oil,  the  various  East  Indian  fibres, 
and  the  flax-cotton.  In  Dr.  Roxburgh’s  communication* 
are  detailed  experiments  on  the  fibres  of  the  Corchorus, 
the  Asclepias,  the  Urticas,  or  China-grass,  distinctly  proving 
their  value  and  importance, — showing  them  to  be  as  good 
or  better  than  flax  and  hemp ;  and  yet  more  than  half  a 
century  has  elapsed,  and  these  fibres  are  only  just  beginning 

*  “Trans.  Soc.  Arts,”  vol.  xxii.  pp.  363-396;  xxiv.  pp.  143-156; 
and  xxiii.  p.  407. 


214  ON  THE  VEGETABLE  SUBSTANCES  USED 

to  receive  the  attention  of  manufacturers.  In  the  case  .of 
flax-cotton,  we  have  recently  been  strongly  impressed  with 
the  great  importance  of  a  discovery  by  means  of  which  the 
fibre  of  flax  can  be  converted  into  a  sort  of  cotton,  capable 
of  being  carded  like  ordinary  cotton,  possessing  the  advan¬ 
tage,  that  it  may  be  employed  with  wool  or  cotton  in  the 
manufacture  of  mixed  fabrics,  and  having  an  increased 
affinity  for  colouring  matters.  Now,  nearly  all  this  was 
done  about  eighty  years  ago  by  Lady  Moira,  and  is  pub¬ 
lished  in  the  First  Volume  of  the  Society’s  Transactions. 
She  states  that  tow  and  refuse  flax  of  all  sorts,  boiled  with 
an  alkaline  solution,  and  afterwards  scoured,  is  converted 
into  a  sort  of  cotton,  which  she  believes  takes  the  dye  better 
than  flax.  The  result  of  this  process  is,  that  “  the  fibres 
separate  from  one  another,”  after  which  it  may  be  carded 
like  cotton.  It  is  highly  interesting  to  observe  the  fate  of 
Lady  Moira’s  scheme:  she  says,  “It  is  plain  that  the  ma¬ 
terial  of  flax-cotton  in  able  hands,  will  bear  manufacturing, 
though  it  is  my  ill  fortune  to  have  it  discredited  by  the 

artisans  who  work  for  me . and  getting  spun  an 

ounce  of  this  cotton  in  Dublin  I  found  impracticable.  The 
absurd  alarm,  that  it  might  injure  the  trade  of  foreign  cot¬ 
ton,  had  gained  ground ;  and  the  spinners — for  what  reason 
I  cannot  comprehend — declared  themselves  such  bitter  ene¬ 
mies  to  my  scheme,  that  they  would  not  spin  for  me.  Such 
is  my  fate,  that,  what  between  party  in  the  metropolis,  and 
indolence  in  this  place,  I  am  not  capable  of  doing  my  scheme 
justice.  That  it  should  ever  injure  the  trade  of  foreign 
cotton  is  impossible.”* 

The  suggestion  of  Lady  Moira,  though  it  came  to  nothing 
at  the  time,  was  not  altogether  without  effect;  for  the  ma¬ 
nufacture  of  flax-cotton  was  taken  up  with  considerable 
spirit  in  various  parts  of  the  continent,  though  in  every  ease 
the  process  seems  soon  to  have  been  relinquished.  Amongst 
other  authors  who  have  written  favourably  on  this  subject, 
I  may  mention  Beckmann  and  Dcs  Charmes,  who  both  speak 
of  the  great  similarity  of  flax-cotton  with  ordinary  cotton. 
The  latter  recommends  cutting  the  flaxen  tow  into  proper 
lengths  before  converting  it  into  cotton. 


*  Vol.  i.  pp.  202-213. 


IN  TIIE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES.  215 

Lady  Moira  sent  over  specimens  of  the  articles  manu¬ 
factured  with  flax-cotton  to  the  Society,  and  they  are  now 
upon  the  table  before  you  j  and  I  will  only  say  of  them, 
that  I  did  not  see  in  the  Great  Exhibition  any  better  sam¬ 
ples  of  flax-cotton  than  those  prepared  more  than  seventy 
years  ago.  I  will  also  quote  to  you  a  brief  statement  by 
Mr.  Bailey  of  Manchester,  contained  in  a  letter  to  the 
Society,  dated  1775  :  “  Some  of  the  most  ingenious  manu¬ 
facturers  in  and  about  Manchester  are  most  extremely 
pleased  with  this  new  staple,  and  think,  if  properly  attended 
to,  Lady  Moira’s  invention  may  prove  a  fruitful  source  of 
wealth.” 

These  are,  however,  but  a  few  out  of  many  similar  facts 
T  might  mention  :  they  show  plainly,  that  had  the  original 
objects  for  which  the  Society  was  established  been  strictly 
adhered  to,  and  had  its  means  enlarged  in  proportion  to  its 
utility,  we  should  now  have  a  most  valuable  record  of  the 
progress  of  human  industry  during  the  last  hundred  years  : 
in  fact,  a  great  industrial  museum  of  the  whole  world,  not 
a  mere  magazine  or  storehouse  in  which  natural  productions 
and  ingenious  contrivances  are  piled  up  in  endless  confusion, 
where  they  may  remain  buried  for  ages,  but  a  practical, 
useful,  and  well-arranged  series,  denoting  past  progress, 
and  leading  to  future  improvement — a  place  of  reference, 
in  which  useful  knowledge  of  all  sorts  would  be  accessible 
to  every  one,  and  at  all  times  available  for  purposes  of  in¬ 
struction. 

The  admirable  collection  of  Liverpool  imports,  contributed 
by  Mr.  Archer  to  the  Great  Exhibition,  though  of  course 
confined  to  articles  at  present  known  in  commerce,  and  ne¬ 
cessarily  far  from  complete,  is  still  a  good  specimen  of  the 
way  in  which  such  a  series  may  be  made  to  convey  practical 
information.  To  be  of  real  value,  it  should  be  far  more 
extensive,  and  it  should  also  be  accompanied  by  much  more 
copious  information,  and  by  illustrations  of  all  sorts.  For 
example,  dye-stuffs  should  be  placed  side  by  side  with 
samples  of  the  colours  they  yield  ;  and,  in  every  case  where 
practicable,  the  use  of  each  substance  should  be  illustrated. 
All  imperfect  as  the  Liverpool  collection  was,  I  question 
whether  any  one  could  spend  an  hour  in  looking  over  its 


ON  THU  VEGETABLE  SUBSTANCES  USED 


216 

contents,  without  learning  some  useful  facts  which  he  did 
not  before  know. 

The  idea  of  a  Museum  of  Industry  is  by  no  means  new, 
for  full  thirty  years  ago  S.  E.  Von  Kces,  who  was  then 
Chief  Inspector  of  Factories  in  the  Austrian  Empire,  formed 
a  collection  of  the  raw  produce,  and  likewise  ot  the  manu¬ 
factured  articles,  at  that  time  used  in  Austria,  and  added  to 
it,  by  way  of  comparison,  a  great  number  cf  the  productions 
of  other  countries.  This  collection  contained  upwards  ot 
12,000  specimens,  and  the  descriptive  catalogue  extends 
over  more  than  2800  octavo  pages.  This  catalogue,  as  a 
work  of  reference,  is  of  considerable  value,  and  in  some 
points  might  have  given  useful  hints  to  the  compilers  of  the 
Catalogue  of  the  Great  Exhibition.  One  important  feature 
in  it  is  the  fact  that  in  most  cases  prices  are  given,  whilst  in 
the  Exhibition  Catalogue  all  statements  relating  to  price 
were  inadmissible,  in  accordance  with  a  decision  of  the 
Iloyal  Commissioners.  It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  this 
was  deemed  necessary,  for  the  value  ot  the  Catalogue  is,  of 
course,  greatly  diminished  by  the  exclusion  oi  infoi  mation 
of  such  paramount  importance.  It  is  curious  to  observe, 
that  Von  Kees  was  led  to  form  his  museum,  in  the  first 
instance,  for  his  own  private  instruction,  when  he  recencd 
the  appointment  of  a  Commissioner  of  Factories  in  1810, 
and  at  first  his  collection  was  confined  to  manufactured 
articles  alone;  he  soon  found,  however,  the  necessity  of 
extending  it,  and  rendering  it  more  instructive,  by^  the 
addition  °of  raw  produce — thus  forming  a  complete  Trade 
Museum. 

The  Great  Exhibition  has  strongly  shown  the  want  of 
such  a  collection  in  England,  and  I  feel  that  it  is  not  foreign 
to  the  objects  contemplated  in  these  Lectures,  if,  in  conclu¬ 
sion,  I  should  ask  my  brother  members  why  should  not  we, 
even  now,  commence  the  formation  of  such  a  collection , 
why  should  not  the  Society  of  Arts  undertake  that  which 
would  be  so  great  a  public  benefit? 

In  throwing  out  this  suggestion,  I  would  remind  you,  not 
only  that  the  Society  of  Arts  possesses  greater  facilities 
than  any  other  Society  for  collecting  a  great  Trade  Museum, 
but  also  that  the  many  valuable  and  interesting  specimens 
already  in  the  drawers  and  cabinets  of  our  model-room,  con- 


IN  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES.  217 

stitute  of  themselves  alone  a  collection  of  the  very  greatest 
practical  importance. 

With  those  'who  say  that  we  need  an  enlarged  and  com¬ 
prehensive  system  of  National  Education  I  agree  heart  and 
soul ;  but  I  would  even  go  farther — I  say,  let  us  have  the 
means  of  teaching  the  schoolmaster  as  well  as  the  scholar; 
let  us,  by  collecting  sound  facts  and  useful  information, 
obtain  those  means  of  instruction  in  applied  science,  which 
are  at  present  almost  wholly  wanting. 

Jan.  21,  1852. 


19 


LECTURE  VIII. 


ON  MACHINES  AND  TOOLS  FOR  WORKING  IN 
METAL,  WOOD,  AND  OTHER  MATERIALS. 


BY  THE 

REV.  ROBERT  WILLIS,  M.A.  F.R.S.  &c. 

JACKSONIAN  PROFESSOR  IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CAMBRIDGE. 


(219) 


THE 


REV.  ROBERT  WILLIS,  M.A.  F.R.S.,  &c. 


ON 


MACHINES  AND  TOOLS  FOR  WORKING  IN  METAL, 
WOOD,  AND  OTHER  MATERIALS. 


The  portion  of  the  Exhibition  which  it  is  proposed  to 
consider  this  evening,  must  he  considered  under  a  very  dif¬ 
ferent  aspect  from  those  which  have  formed  the  subject  of 
the  previous  Lectures.  Considering  the  entire  collection  as 
made  up  of  Natural  Materials,  Artificial  Products,  and  the 
Processes  by  which  the  first  are  converted  into  the  second, 
it  is  easy  to  show  that  the  two  first  of  these  groups  were 
exceedingly  well  and  completely  represented,  and  generally 
interesting  and  intelligible;  but  that  the  last,  under  which 
our  present  subject  is  included,  was,  on  the  contrary,  im¬ 
perfectly  represented,  and  so  little  understood,  as  to  lose 
much  of  its  interest. 

The  consideration  of  natural  or  raw  materials,  belonging 
as  it  does  to  the  natural  sciences,  has  been  long  familiarized 
to  all,  as  furnishing  the  most  instructive,  delightful,  and 
interesting  subjects  of  study  and  amusement,  either  in  the 
animal,  vegetable,  or  mineral  kingdoms,  according  to  the 
taste  or  habits  of  each  observer;  and  the  practical  view  of 
the  subject  which  is  especially  directed  to  the  useful  pur¬ 
poses  to  which  these  natural  materials  may  be  applied,  has 
been  also  long  since  illustrated  by  collections  like  that  of  the 
Museum  of  Economic  Geology  and  others,  which  paved  the 
19*  (221) 


222  ON  MACHINES  AND  TOOLS  FOR  WORKING 

way  for  the  magnificent  and  complete  collection  in  the 
Great  Exhibition,  in  which  all  nations  combined  to  display 
with  gratitude  and  pride  the  natural  treasures,  of  which 
they  are  the  several  depositories,  as  stimulants  to  industry 
and  commerce. 

The  products  include  the  great  mass  of  objects  that  con¬ 
stitute  our  food  and  clothing,  contribute  to  our  daily  neces¬ 
sities,  comforts,  and  luxuries,  and  minister  to  our  employ¬ 
ments,  or  to  the  enjoyments  we  derive  from  the  fine  arts; 
and  thus  every  person  is  in  one  wTay  or  other  interested  in 
them,  and  may  understand  them.  The  completeness  of 
this  part  of  the  collection  was  also  greatly  promoted  by  the 
commercial  advantages  that  promised  to  accrue  to  the  ex¬ 
hibitor,  as  well  as  to  the  spectator,  by  the  universal  display 
and  choice  of  all  the  useful  and  ornamental  results  of  in¬ 
dustry,  for  the  first  time  offered  in  one  vast  bazaar  by  the 
whole  world  of  manufacturers  to  the  whole  world  of  cus¬ 
tomers. 

How  different  is  the  case  with  the  processes  and  the 
machines  concerned  therewith  !  In  many  cases  noisy,  of¬ 
fensive,  and  dirty,  or  requiring  conditions  of  heat  or  damp, 
which  made  it  impossible  to  carry  them  on  in  the  presence 
of  spectators;  and  if  not  labouring  under  these  disadvan¬ 
tages,  at  least  requiring  long  explanations  and  experiments 
to  make  them  intelligible ;  it  is  plain  that  no  attempt  at  a 
complete  collection  could  be  made,  if,  indeed,  such  a  result 
were  desirable.  Enough  of  manufacturing  machines  were 
really  shown  to  give  to  the  general  spectator  an  idea  of  their 
beauty  of  form  and  workmanship,  and  of  the  precision  of 
their  action,  according  to  the  style  and  manner  of  machine- 
making  which  characterize  the  present  age ;  and  such  pro¬ 
cesses  were  selected  for  daily  practice  as  were  intelligible, 
at  least  by  their  results,  if  the  steps  that  led  to  them 
remained  mysterious  to  the  lookers-on.  Sheets  of  wdiite 
paper,  entering  at  one  end  of  a  machine  and  duly  delivered 
at  the  other  in  the  complete  form  of  a  printed  newspaper ; 
envelope  folding;  weaving  and  spinning,  and  the  like, 
served  to  show  the  general  character  of  machine-craft,  as 
contrasted  with  the  slow  production  of  such  articles  by  the 
handicraft  method  with  which  most  of  the  spectators  were 
familiar. 


IN  METAL,  WOOD,  AND  OTHER  MATERIALS.  223 

These  practical  obstacles  applied,  perhaps,  the  most  for¬ 
cibly  to  the  class  which  is  appropriated  to  the  present 
evening,  namely,  machines  for  working  in  wood  and  metal, 
which  require  a  solid  foundation,  are  necessanly  accom¬ 
panied  in  use  by  noise,  chips,  and  other  annoyances,  and  aie 
expensive  to  maintain  in  action,  and  not,  generally  speak¬ 
ing,  intelligible  or  interesting  to  ordinary  spectators,  at 
least  without  systematic  explanations,  which  could  not  be 
afforded  under  the  circumstances. 

I  trust  that  I  have  now  said  enough  to  show  that,  with¬ 
out  iu  any  respect  disparaging  the  Exhibition,  or  casting 
any  shade  upon  that  most  admirable  and  unique  incident  of 
human  history,  which  we  have  been  so  accustomed  to  look 
upon  with  umnixed  admiration  and  delight,  we  must  admit 
that,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  this  one  department 
was  very  incompletely  represented  with  respect  to  the 
machinery  of  our  own  country,  and,  of  course,  still  more  so 
with  respect  to  other  countries.  Any  attempt,  therefore, 
to  estimate  from  the  Exhibition  Catalogue  the  extent  to 
which  machinery  is  used  in  the  manufactures  of  this  or  any 
other  country,  considered  separately,  or  its  relative  employ¬ 
ment  by  different  countries,  would  lead  to  the  most  fallacious 
and  unjust  conclusions. 

But  one  part  of  my  duty  this  evening,  which  forms  a 
principal  point  of  the  instructions  under  which  I,  in  com¬ 
mon  with  my  colleagues  upon  this  occasion,  have  the  honour 
of  acting,  is  “  to  state  freely  and  without  reserve  my  opinion 
upon  the  probable  immediate  effect  of  the  Exhibition  on  the 
particular  subject  of  the  lecture.” 

For  the  reasons  above  stated,  it  is  much  more  difficult  to 
foresee  and  trace  the  effects  that  may  be  expected  in  the 
department  at  present  under  review  than  in  the  other 
branches  of  the  collection.  But  there  are  two  very  desira¬ 
ble  objects  which  I  shall  proceed  to  dcvelopc,  and  which,  if 
we  take  advantage  of  the  interest  excited  on  the  subject  of 
manufacturing  science  and  art  by  the  Great  Exhibition,  we 
may  possibly  succeed  in  bringing  to  bear. 

The  first  object  is  to  effect  a  more  intimate  union  and 
greater  confidence  between  scientific  and  practical  men,  by 
teaching  them  reciprocally  their  wants  and  requirements, 
their  methods  and  powers,  so  that  the  peculiar  properties 


224 


ON  MACHINES  AND  TOOLS  FOR  WORKING 


and  advantages  of  each  may  be  made  to  assist  in  the  per¬ 
fection  of  the  other. 

The  second  object  is  to  promote  a  more  universal  know¬ 
ledge  amongst  mechanics  and  artisans  of  the  methods  and 
tools  employed  in  other  trades  than  their  own,  as  well  as 
of  those  employed  in  other  countries  in  their  own  and 
other  trades. 

With  respect  to  the  first  object,  it  is  no  secret  that  there 
has  always  existed  an  unfortunate  boundary  wall  or  separa¬ 
tion  between  practical  and  scientific  men,  a  mutual  distrust 
or  misunderstanding  of  their  relative  values,  which  has  de¬ 
prived  tffem  of  many  great  benefits  that  they  might  have 
mutually  derived  from  each  other’s  pursuits.  It  is  true 
that  in  many  branches  of  science,  as  in  chemistry,  geology, 
and  botany,  this  barrier  has  to  a  great  extent  been  broken 
through ;  the  practical  man  has  found  the  benefit  of  scientific 
generalizations,  and  the  theorist  has  been  compelled  to  seek 
the  facts  upon  which  his  theories  are  to  be  based  in  the 
mines  and  manufactories;  thus  compelling  the  two  classes 
to  work  together  and  learn  to  understand  each  other.  Still 
there  remains  too  much  of  the  ancient  contempt  for  “  theory,” 
and  of  an  overweening  and  conceited  value  for  “  facts”  and 
“  practice.” 

In  no  department  of  science  is  this  carried  to  a  greater 
extent  than  between  the  mathematical  and  practical  mecha¬ 
nics  ;  and  yet  the  mental  process  by  which  the  parts  of  a 
complex  machine  are  contrived  and  arranged  in  the  brain  of 
the  inventor  requires  the  geometrical  faculty,  as  it  is  called, 
to  a  very  high  extent :  that  is  to  say,  the  power  of  con¬ 
ceiving  mentally  the  relations  of  the  parts  of  complex  figures 
in  space.  So  that,  in  truth,  a  man  gifted  by  Nature  as  a 
mechanist  is  also  qualified  as  a  geometrician ;  and  the  un¬ 
taught  inventor,  struggling  to  give  form  and  reality  to  his 
conceptions  of  a  new  machine,  is,  in  reality,  practising  im¬ 
perfectly  and  unknowingly  the  very  geometrical  science  he 
despises,  and  which,  if  he  had  acquired  its  elements,  would 
at  once  have  shown  him  how  to  systematize  and  arrange  his 
ideas. 

For  the  system  of  mathematics,  as  it  now  exists,  is  the 
accumulated  result  of  many  centuries’  work  of  men  thus 
naturally  gifted  with  the  geometrical  faculty;  and  the  man 


IN  METAL,  WOOD,  AND  OTHER  MATERIALS.  225 

who  now,  directing  this  mental  power  to  the  confection  of 
machines,  professes  to  exercise  it  “  self-taught,”  is  acting 
on  the  presumption  that  he  alone  can  begin  from  the  begin¬ 
ning,  and  dispense  with  the  labours  of  those  men  of  mighty 
intellect  who  worked  so  long  to  prepare  a  system  for  those 
who  were  to  come  after  them.  To  ignore  such  labours  is  a 
piece  of  mighty  presumption  and  a  pure  waste  of  intellect, 
which  usually  brings  its  own  punishment  in  the  loss  of  time 
and  imperfection  of  the  result.  “Self-teaching,”  in  this 
sense  of  determined  rejection  of  the  previous  labours  of 
others,  so  far  from  being  a  source  of  pride  and  gratification, 
is  a  piece  of  folly,  to  use  the  mildest  term,  if  it  might  have 
been  avoided ;  and  a  lamentable  misfortune,  if  the  sufferer 
has  had  no  opportunity  of  knowing  what  had  been  already 
previously  effected  and  prepared  by  others  in  the  same  line. 

Of  a  piece  with  this  is  the  case  of  persons  who  pride 
themselves  upon  executing  very  difficult  works  with  imple¬ 
ments  not  inteuded  for  the  purpose,  such  as  elaborate  carv¬ 
ing,  which,  we  are  told,  was  all  done  “  with  a  common  pen¬ 
knife.”  The  experience  of  carvers  of  all  ages  having  shown 
that  there  are  certain  forms  of  chisels  and  gouges  that  are 
proper  for  this  work,  a  sensible  man  would  certainly  not 
waste  his  time  by  using  the  worst  form  of  a  cutting  instru¬ 
ment  that  he  could  choose  for  this  particular  service.  So 
far  from  admiring,  we  should  pity  the  vanity  and  folly  of 
such  a  display;  and  the  more,  if  the  merit  of  the  work 
should  show  a  natural  aptitude  in  the  workman :  for  it  is 
certain,  that  if  he  has  made  good  work  with  a  bad  tool,  he 
would  make  better  with  a  good  one. 

To  perfect  and  reduce  to  practice  the  idea  of  a  new 
machine  is  no  light  effort  of  the  intellect,  and  in  proportion 
to  the  education  of  the  inventor,  so  will  his  steps  be  rendered 
surer,  more  direct,  and  more  rapid.  As  far  as  the  relative 
motions  of  the  parts  of  his  machine  are  concerned  his 
natural  faculties  may  carry  him,  and  probably  suggest  a 
variety  of  constructive  methods  and  cunning  devices  by 
which  these  may  be  effected;  but,  in  the  next  place,  it 
becomes  necessary  to  select  from  these  the  most  appropriate 
to  sustain  the  forces  and  resistances, — to  estimate  the 
strength  to  be  given  to  the  different  parts,  their  proper 
qualities  of  weight,  of  lightness  and  stiffness,  the  amount  of 


226 


ON  MACHINES  AND  TOOLS  FOR  WORKING 


friction,  and  a  variety  of  other  complex  conditions,  which 
can  only  he  determined  by  statical  or  dynamical  knowledge, 
but  which  are  necessary  to  insure  the  durability,  easy  and 
economical  working,  and  practical  value  of  the  contrivance. 

In  the  absence  of  the  proper  technical  knowledge  of 
theoretical  mechanics,  the  proposed  machine,  if  it  possess 
any  value,  will  only  arrive  at  its  perfect  and  permanent  form 
through  a  series  of  abortive  attempts,  which,  by  a  succession 
of  failures  and  repairs,  may  perhaps  lead  to  the  removal  of 
the  weak  points  of  the  contrivance.  Those  parts  which  by 
chance  were  made  unnecessarily  strong  and  heavy,  will  pro¬ 
bably  retain  their  original  errors. 

The  representations  of  machines  and  engines  in  the  col¬ 
lections  published  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries, 
furnish  abundant  illustration  of  these  remarks.  In  all  that 
belongs  to  the  mere  motion  of  these  contrivances,  the  greatest 
possible  ingenuity  and  fertility  of  invention  is  displayed. 
But  in  all  that  concerns  construction,  framing  and  adapta¬ 
tion  of  form  and  dimensions  to  resistances,  strains,  and  the 
nature  of  the  work,  a  total  absence  of  principle  and  ex¬ 
perience  is  manifested;  so  that  it  is  apparent  that  these 
machines  would  act  very  well  in  the  form  of  models,  but 
that,  if  actually  set  to  work,  the  most  of  them  would  knock 
themselves  to  pieces  in  a  very  short  time. 

A  profound  knowledge  of  theoretical  mechanics  is  not 
necessary  for  all  persons  concerned  about  machines,  any 
more  than  an  elaborate  acquaintance  with  the  entire  subject 
of  astronomy  is  needed  by  every  sailor.  Yet  sailors  have 
no  horror  of  mathematics,  aud  know  very  well  how  to  make 
use  of  the  parts  that  are  prepared  for  them.  And  all  men 
who  are  engaged  in  the  contrivance  of  machinery,  whether 
in  reducing  to  practice  their  own  inventions,  or  those  of 
others,  should  be  competently  instructed  in  the  elements  of 
the  subject,  as  well  as  in  the  history  of  machinery;  and 
the  artisans  themselves  would  find  their  labour  greatly 
facilitated  by  a  knowledge  of  geometry  and  mechanics  to  a 
limited  extent,  proportioned  to  their  requirements. 

We  may  hope  that  one  of  the  permanent  results  of  the 
Exhibition  may  be,  that  men’s  minds  being  more  forcibly 
led  to  the  consideration  of  the  subject,  a  system  of  profes¬ 
sional  education  for  practical  men  may  be  organized,  so  as 


IN  METAL,  WOOD,  AND  OTIIEll  MATERIALS.  227 

to  enable  every  one  to  obtain  just  so  much  as  may  be  neces¬ 
sary  for  him  in  his  own  position. 

The  preparation  of  such  a  system  of  education  is  diffi¬ 
cult,  and  requires  great  care  to  avoid  the  error  of  teaching 
much  that  is  unnecessary,  and  that,  in  fact,  cannot  be  com¬ 
prehended,  unless  by  a  student  who  intends  to  devote  much 
more  time,  and  to  enter  much  more  profoundly  into  those 
branches  of  study,  than  is  contemplated  for  the  purposes  we 
are  now  considering.  But  we  know  that  difficulties  of  this 
kind  have  been  already  encountered,  and,  as  it  appears, 
successfully  overcome  in  France,  after  failures  had  taught 
experience. 

I  have  already  said,  at  the  outset  of  these  remarks,  that 
not  only  do  practical  men  require  theoretical  knowledge,  but 
that,  also,  theoretical  men  require  practical  knowledge,  a 
better  acquaintance  with  the  difficulties  that  practice  requires 
them  to  lend  a  hand  in  developing,  explaining,  and  over¬ 
coming.  To  form  a  system  of  education,  strictly  limited  to 
the  requirements  of  practical  men,  we  must  know  what  these 
requirements  are,  and  must  in  imagination  place  ourselves 
in  the  position  of  these  men,  to  understand  the  difficulties 
arising  from  their  occupations,  which  theory  may  dispel. 
We  must,  in  short,  select  the  examples  and  illustrations  of 
our  applied  mathematics  from  the  familiar  cases  of  actual 
machine-work,  and  endeavour  to  solve  them  with  the  least 
possible  amount  of  geometry.  It  may  be  worth  while  to 
consider  a  little  how  this  may  be  attempted. 

Every  machine  is  constructed  to  perform  a  certain  specific 
operation,  and  accordingly  contains  parts  especially  applied 
to  the  work  in  question ;  which  working  parts  are  connected 
by  the  mechanism  in  such  a  manner,  that  each  shall  move 
according  to  the  law  required  by  the  nature  of  the  work. 
One,  perhaps,  constantly  revolving  slowly;  another,  rapidly; 
and  a  third,  back-and-forwards,  and  so  on.  But  the 
connecting  mechanism  by  which  these  different  motions  are 
tied  together  may  be  varied  in  many  ways,  and  each  is 
common  to  all  machines  that  happen  to  require  similar  co¬ 
existent  motions  in  their  working  parts. 

The  nature  and  principles  of  trains  of  mechanism,  by 
which  dissimilar  motions  may  be  thus  produced,  the  one 
from  the  other,  can  be  taught  without  any  reference  to  the 


228  ON  MACHINES  AND  TOOLS  FOR  WORKING 

work  or  purpose  of  machinery,  and  is,  indeed,  best  so 
taught.  But  to  illustrate  and  fix  the  teacher’s  meaning,  it 
is  well  to  show  examples  of  the  application  of  each  motion 
to  some  real  machine. 

Now  it  must  always  be  recollected,  that  the  merit  of  a 
piece  of  mechanism  may  be  exceedingly  great,  if  considered 
as  an  example  of  pure  mechanism ;  that  is,  of  the  ingenuity 
or  profound  knowledge  displayed  in  the  conversion  of  one 
motion  into  another,  although  the  purpose  of  the  machine 
to  which  it  happens  to  be  applied  may  be  very  trivial.  But 
this  is  not  the  way  in  which  the  world  would  judge  of  ma¬ 
chinery;  and  yet  combinations  of  pure  mechanism,  that 
form  the  essential  parts  of  the  most  useful  and  valuable 
machines  in  the  manufacturing  series,  were  originally  in¬ 
vented  for  purposes  of  the  most  trivial  and  useless 
character. 

The  u  differential  hox”  of  the  bobbin-and-fly  frame  was 
first  contrived  for  an  equation  clock ;  that  is,  to  enable  the 
hand  of  a  clock  to  move  round  the  dial  in  such  a  way  as  to 
point  to  the  true  time  as  shown  on  a  sun-dial.  The  “  slide 
rest,”  as  we  shall  presently  see,  was  contrived  towards  the 
end  of  the  last  century,  to  enable  the  amateur  turners  of 
the  court  of  France  to  ornament  their  snuff-boxes  with  more 
precise  patterns  of  guilloche  work.  The  motions  of  a  mouse¬ 
trap  may  be  found  in  a  steam-engine. 

Now,  in  showing  the  practical  application  of  any  given 
combination  of  pure  mechanism,  one  machine  will  do  as 
well  as  another;  but  it  is  better  to  select  one  whose  pur¬ 
pose  and  functions  are  likely  to  be  readily  appreciated  by 
the  student,  that  his  attention  may  not  be  too  much  dis¬ 
tracted  from  the  mechanism.  Thus,  if  I  were  teaching  a 
mathematical  student  the  differential  motion,  I  should 
select  the  equation  clock  as  the  example,  because  its  pur¬ 
pose  depends  upon  an  astronomical  principle  which  forms 
part  of  his  proper  studies.  But  if  I  were  teaching  a  me¬ 
chanist,  I  should  rather  take  the  bobbimand-fly  frame  for 
my  example. 

In  forming  a  system  of  instruction  for  practical  men, 
therefore,  we  may,  by  a  more  practical  selection  of  exam¬ 
ples,  be  enabled  to  teach  the  principles  of  mechanics,  with¬ 
out  greatly  altering  our  present  methods.  It  is  true  that 


229 


IN  METAL,  WOOD,  AND  OTHER  MATERIALS. 

our  theoretical  writers  are  rapidly  introducing  examples  of 
the  actual  machinery  of  our  own  time  into  their  systems, 
still  these  books  are  necessarily  rather  intended  to  teach 
machinery  to  mathematicians,  than  to  teach  mathematics  to 
mechanists. 

It  may  be  remarked  that,  at  least  in  one  branch  of  me¬ 
chanics,  the  “  strength  of  materials/'  the  value  of  theoreti¬ 
cal  and  experimental  science  has  been  fully  recognised  by 
practical  engineers,  and  the  Britannia  bridge  may  be  quoted 
as  a  triumphant  example  of  the  advantages  that  arise  when 
theory  and  practice  go  hand  in  hand. 

We  will  now  proceed  to  the  immediate  subject  of  our 
Lectm-e,  namely,  the  machines  for  working  in  metal,  wood, 
and  other  materials. 

The  object  of  such  machines  is  to  work  rough  material 
into  shape,  which  may  be  done  in  three  different  ways : 
(1.)  By  abrading  or  cutting  off  the  superfluous  portions  in 
the  form  of  chips  or  large  pieces;  (2.)  If  it  possess  duc¬ 
tility,  we  knead  it,  or  press  it  into  form  in  various  ways,  as 
by  hammering,  rolling,  drawing,  &c. ;  (3.)  If  it  be  fusible, 
we  melt  it,  and  pour  it  into  a  mould.  I  forbear  to  include 
the  producing  a  given  form  by  joining  together  pieces,  be¬ 
cause  each  piece  must  be  shaped  in  one  or  other  of  the  abo?e 
ways.  The  most  interesting  series  of  machines  is  that  which 
belongs  to  the  first  group ;  and  to  this  I  must,  for  the  pre¬ 
sent,  confine  my  attention.  It  may  be  interesting  to  sketch 
the  history  of  their  introduction.  Machines  of  this  kind 
are  either  general,  like  the  lathe  or  the  planing-machines, 
which  are  used  for  a  great  variety  of  purposes,  or  are  espe¬ 
cially  adapted  to  the  production  of  a  single  object  of  manu¬ 
facture  ;  in  which  case  they  are  often  contrived  in  a  series, 
as  the  block-machinery,  the  machines  for  making  cedar  pen¬ 
cils,  and  the  like,  and  the  introduction  of  such  especial 
machines  is  of  great  importance,  and  has  certainly  not 
yet  reached  its  limits.  As  the  machine^  of  this  latter 
kind  are  commonly  modifications  of  one  or  other  of  the  fii’st, 
the  history  of  the  two  must  be  considered  together. 

The  origin  of  the  turning-lathe  is  lost  in  the  shades  of 
antiquity;  and  the  saw-mill,  with  a  complete  self-action, 
turned  by  a  water-wheel,  is  represented  in  a  MS.  of  the 
thirteenth  century  at  Paris,  and  is,  probabty,  of  much  earlier 
contrivance.  The  lathe  was,  in  process  of  time,  adapted  to 
20 


230  ON  MACHINES  AND  TOOLS  FOR  WORKING 


the  production  of  oval  figures,  twisted  and  swash-work,  as  it 
is  called,  and,  lastly,  of  rose-engine  work.  The  swash,  or 
raking  mouldings,  were  employed  in  the  balusters  of  stair¬ 
cases  and  other  ornaments  at  the  period  of  the  “  Renais¬ 
sance  ”  in  architecture,  about  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  cen¬ 
tury,  and,  therefore,  the  swash-lathe  assumes  somewhat  of 
the  character  of  a  manufacturing  machine.  But  the  simple 
lathe  was  much  employed  in  screen  and  stall-work  during 
the  middle  ages.  The  first  real  treatise  on  turning  is  Mox- 
on’s  (1680),  which  gives  us  a  valuable  picture  of  the  state 
of  the  art  at  that  period,  and  he  has  preserved  to  us  the 
name  of  the  engine-manufacturer  of  that  day,  Mr.  Thomas 
Oldfield,  at  the  sign  of  the  Flower-de-luce,  near  the  Savoy 
in  the  Strand,  as  an  excellent  maker  of  oval-engines,  swash- 
engines,  and  all  other  engines,  which  shows  that  such  ma¬ 
chines  were  in  demand.  A  few  drawings  of  such  machines 
occur  in  earlier  works,  beginning  with  Besson,  in  1569. 
From  the  treatise  of  Plunder,  published  at  Lyons  in  1701, 
we  learn  that  turning  had  long  been  a  favourite  pursuit  in 
France  with  amateurs  of  all  ranks,  who  spared  no  expense 
in  the  perfection  and  contrivance  of  elaborate  machinery 
for  the  production  of  complex  figures.  This  taste  con¬ 
tinued  at  least  up  to  the  French  Revolution,  and  contri¬ 
buted  in  a  very  high  degree  to  the  advancement  of  the 
class  of  machinery  that  forms  the  subject  of  our  present 
evening.  In  our  own  country  the  literature  of  the  subject 
is  so  defective  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  discover  what  pro¬ 
gress  we  were  making  during  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries.  A  few  scattered  hints  only  can  be  collected, 
whereas  in  France  the  great  “  Encyclopedic  ”  and  other 
works,  abundantly  illustrated,  give  the  most  precise  and  ac¬ 
curate  knowledge  of  the  state  of  this  and  other  mechani¬ 
cal  arts. 

Smeaton  has  recorded  that,  in  1741,  Hindley  the  clock- 
maker  of  York  showed  him  a  screw-cutting  lathe,  with 
change-wheels,  by  which  he  could,  from  the  one  screw  of 
the  lathe,  cut  screws  of  every  necessary  degree  of  fineness, 
and  either  right  or  left-handed.  It  seems  to  be  implied 
that  this  was  a  novelty,  and  that  Hindley  had  invented  it ; 
and  it  was  soon  imitated  by  Ramsden,  and  is  now  uni¬ 
versal.  At  all  events,  such  a  machine  is  not  alluded  to  in 
the  French  works  already  mentioned,  and  serves  to  show  the 


TN  METAL,  WOOD,  AND  OTHER  MATERIALS.  231 

advance  we  were  then  making  in  the  practical  improvement 
of  the  lathe. 

But  the  clockmakers,  to  which  body  Hindley  belonged, 
were  the  first  who  employed  special  machines  for  their 
manufactures.  Their  wheel-cutting  engine  has  been  as¬ 
cribed  to  Dr.  Hooke,  about  1655,  and  its  use  rapidly 
spread  over  the  Continent.  The  gradual  improvement  of 
this  machine,  and  the  successive  forms  which  it  assumed 
as  the  art  of  construction  was  matured,  forms  a  very  in¬ 
structive  lesson.  But  herein  our  own  countrymen  have 
largely  contributed  to  its  perfection.  Henry  Sully,  an 
English  clockmaker,  who  removed  to  Paris  about  1718, 
carried  with  him,  amongst  other  excellent  tools,  a  cutting- 
engine,  which  excited  great  admiration  there.  The  form 
of  the  present  French  engine  is,  however,  derived  from 
Hulot’s  machine  (about  1763).  But  our  English  engines, 
in  which  the  dividing-plate  is  superseded  by  a  train  of 
change-wheels,  so  contrived  as  to  require  an  entire  turn  of 
a  latch-handle  for  each  shift,  and  thus  secure  against  error, 
is  derived  from  Hindley’s  engine,  which  he  showed  to  Smea- 
ton  in  1741,  and  which  finally  passed  into  the  hands  of  Mr. 
Reid  of  Edinburgh. 

The  fusee-engine ,  which  is  another  special  clockmaker’ s 
machine,  must  have  greatly  contributed  to  the  perfection  of 
machines  for  working  in  metal. 

But  the  next  great  step  towards  the  perfection  of  machine 
tools  was  the  slide-rest.  The  slow  and  gradual  way  in  which 
this  invaluable  device  acquired  the  distinct  and  individual 
form  in  which  it  now  exists,  is  a  very  curious  example  of 
the  history  of  machinery,  the  developement  of  which,  at 
length,  would  occupy  too  much  space  on  the  present  occa¬ 
sion,  even  if  it  could  be  made  intelligible  without  drawings. 
Suffice  to  say,  that  although  as  early  as  1648  Maignan  pub¬ 
lished  at  Rome*  engravings  of  two  curious  lathes  for  turning 
the  surfaces  of  metallic  mirrors  for  optical  purposes,  in 
which  the  tool  is  clamped  to  frames,  so  disposed  that  when 
put  in  motion  it  is  compelled  to  move  so  as  to  form  true 
hyperbolical,  spherical,  or  plane  surfaces,  according  to  the 
adjustment,  and  that  although  the  fusee-engines,  screw-cut- 
ting  lathes,  and  other  contrivances  already  alluded  to,  em- 


*  “  Perspectiva  Hnvaria,”  P-  689. 


232  ON  MACHINES  AND  TOOLS  FOR  WORKING 


ployed  tools  guided  by  mechanism,  yet  the  real  slide-rest 
does  not  make  its  appearance  until  1772,  when  in  the  plates 
of  the  French  “Encyclopedic,”*  we  find  complete  drawings 
and  details  of  an  excellent  slide-rest,  as  nearly  as  possible 
identical  with  that  usually  supplied  by  Messrs.  Iloltzappfel 
and  other  makers  of  lathes  for  amateurs.  It  must  have  been 
contrived  a  little  while  before  this  publication;  but  the  mea¬ 
gre  descriptions  that  accompany  the  plates  leave  us  com¬ 
pletely  in  the  dark  with  respect  to  its  history.  Bramah’s 
slide-rest  of  1794f  is  so  different  and  so  inferior  in  conveni¬ 
ence,  that  the  two  could  not  have  had  a  common  origin; 
and  we  must  suppose  that  the  French  slide-rest  was  unknown 
to  that  ingenious  mechanist,  although  it  is  scarcely  possible 
that  copies  of  the  “  Encyclopedic  ”  should  not  have  found 
their  way  into  our  libraries. 

But  the  improvements  of  the  steam-engine,  its  applica¬ 
tion  to  giving  motion  to  the  wheels  of  mills  and  other  ma¬ 
chines,  the  increasing  employment  of  iron,  and  other 
advances  in  the  construction  of  mechanism,  which  were  now 
developing  themselves,  gave  men  courage  to  devise  and  carry 
out  large  and  extensive  schemes  for  the  application  of  ma¬ 
chinery  to  manufactures.  In  our  especial  department  we 
may  record,  as  an  early  example,  Bramah,  who,  in  1784, 
obtained  the  patent  for  his  admirable  lock,  and  immediately 
set  about  the  construction  of  a  series  of  original  machine 
tools,  for  shaping  with  the  required  precision  the  barrels, 
keys,  and  other  parts  of  the  contrivance,  which,  indeed, 
would  have  utterly  failed  unless  they  had  been  formed  with 
the  accuracy  that  machinery  alone  can  give.  In  Bramah’s 
workshop  was  educated  the  celebrated  Henry  Maudslay, 
who,  as  I  am  informed,  worked  with  him  from  1789  to 
1796,  and  was  enjployerl  in  making  the  principal  tools  for 
the  locks. 

Foremost  among  the  ingenious  persons  who  carried  on 
this  great  movement  must  be  recorded  Brigadier-general 
Sir  Samuel  Bentham.|  From  his  own  account  it  appears, 

*  Tom.  x.  pis.  37,  38,  84,  85,  86. 

f  Weale’s  edition  of  “Buchanan’s  Mill-work.” 

j  Bentham’s  patents.  “Repertory  of  Arts,”  vol.  v.  p.  293,  and 
vol.  x.  pp.  221,  293,  367 ;  also  Memoir,  by  Mrs.  Bentkam,  in 
Weale’s  “Quarterly  Papers  on  Engineering,”  vol.  vi. 


IN  MET  AX,  WOOD,  AND  OTHER  MATERIALS.  233 

that  in  1791  steam-engines  in  this  country  were  extensively 
employed  for  pumping  mines,  and  for  giving  motion  to 
machinery  for  working  cotton,  and  to  rolling-mills,  and  some 
other  works  in  metal;  but  that  in  regard  to  working  in 
wood,  steam-engines  had  not  been  applied,  for  no  machinery, 
other  than  turning-lathes,  had  been  introduced,  excepting 
that  some  circular  and  reciprocating  saws  and  working  tools 
had  been  applied  to  the  purpose  of  blockmaking  by  the 
contractors  who  then  supplied  blocks  to  the  navy;  even 
saw-mills  for  slitting  timber,  though  in  extensive  use  abroad, 
were  not  to  be  found  in  this  country. 

General  Bentham  had  at  this  time  made  great  progress 
in  contriving  machinery  for  shaping  wood,  as  is  sufficiently 
shown  by  his  remarkable  specifications  of  1791  and  1793 ; 
and  he  informs  us  that,  rejecting  the  common  classification 
of  works  according  to  the  trades  or  handicrafts  for  which 
they  are  used,  he  classed  the  several  operations  that  have 
place  in  the  working  of  materials  of  every  description  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  nature  of  the  operations  themselves ,  and,  in 
regard  to  wood  particularly,  contrived  machines  for  per¬ 
forming  most  of  those  operations  whereby  the  need  of  skill 
and  dexterity  in  the  workman  was  dispensed  with,  and  the 
machines  were  also  capable  of  being  worked  by  a  steam- 
engine  or  other  power.  Besides  the  general  operations  of 
planing,  rebating,  mortising,  sawing  in  curved,  winding, 
and  transverse  directions,  he  completed,  by  way  of  example, 
machines  for  preparing  all  the  parts  of  a  sashwindow  and 
of  a  carriage-wheel,  and  actually  showed  these  and  other 
machines  in  a  working  state  in  1794  in  London. 

This  led  to  his  appointment  as  Inspector-general  of  Naval 
Works,  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  these  and  various 
other  machines  into  the  royal  dockyards,  which  he  imme¬ 
diately  set  about  effecting.  From  this  time  (1797)  the 
introduction  of  machinery  for  the  preparation  of  blocks  and 
other  works  in  wood  at  Portsmouth,  Plymouth,  and  other 
Government  establishments,  takes  its  origin.  In  1802  the 
General  received  a  most  powerful  and  efficient  auxiliary  in 
the  person  of  Mr.  Brunei,  who  in  that  year  presented  his 
plans  for  the  block-making  machinery.  His  services  being 
immediately  secured,  and  Mr.  Henry  Maudslay  engaged  for 
the  construction  of  the  mechanism,  the  admirable  series  of 
20* 


234 


ON  MACHINES  AND  TOOLS  FOR  WORKING 


machine-tools  were  finished  and  set  to  work  in  1807,  by 
which  every  part  of  the  block  and  its  sheaves  are  prepared. 

The  completeness  and  ingenuity  of  this  system,  the  beauty 
of  its  action,  and  the  novelty  of  the  forms  and  construction 
of  the  whole  of  the  mechanism,  excited  so  much  admiration, 
that  the  whole  of  the  machinery  in  Portsmouth  dockyard 
has  usually  been  popularly  ascribed  to  Mr.  Brunei  alone. 
It  must  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  much  machinery 
for  the  performance  of  isolated  operations  had  been  pre¬ 
viously  employed,  as  well  by  Mr.  Taylor  of  Southampton, 
the  contractor  for  the  blocks  of  the  navy  previously  to  1807, 
as  by  General  Bcntham  himself  in  the  dockyards. 

At  this  distance  of  time  it  would  be  impossible  to  dis¬ 
cover  the  exact  shares  of  merit  and  invention  that  belong 
to  Brunei,  Bcntham,  and  Maudslay  in  this  great  work.  To 
the  first  we  may,  however,  assign  the  merit  of  completing 
and  organizing  a  system  of  machine-tools,  so  connected  in 
series,  that  each  in  turn  should  take  up  the  work  from  a 
previous  one  and  carry  it  on  another  step  towards  comple¬ 
tion,  so  that  the  attendant  should  merely  carry  away  the 
work  delivered  from  one  machine  and  place  it  in  the  next, 
finally  receiving  it  complete  from  the  last. 

Some  of  the  individual  machines  in  the  series  had,  it  is 
true,  been  previously  contrived  and  employed.  Thus,  the 
self-acting  mortising-machine  is  distinctly  described  in 
Bentham’s  specification  of  1793,  so  completely  as  to  entitle 
him  to  the  full  credit  of  the  invention  of  mortising-machines, 
whether  by  the  process  of  boring  a  whole  first  and  then 
elongating  it  by  a  chisel  travelling  up  and  down  vertically, 
or  by  the  process  of  causing  the  hole  to  be  elongated  by  the 
rotation  of  the  boring-bit  during  the  travelling  of  the  work. 
The  same  specification  describes  boring-machines,  some  of 
which  are  similar  in  their  arrangements  to  those  of  the  block 
series ;  also  the  tubular  gouge,  which  is  employed  in  the 
shaping-machine,  and  the  formation  of  recesses,  by  a  revolv¬ 
ing  and  travelling  tool  for  the  inlaying  of  the  conks. 

One  of  the  most  useful  machine-tools  that  made  its  ap¬ 
pearance  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  the  cir¬ 
cular  saw.  This  had  been  applied  to  cutting  metal  on  a 
small  scale,  as  in  the  cutting-engine,  ever  since  the  time  of 
Dr.  Hooke;  if,  indeed,  these  early  examples  were  not  more 


IN  METAL,  WOOD,  AND  OTHER  MATERIALS.  235 

like  circular  files  than  saws.  Where  or  by  whom  the  wood¬ 
cutter’s  saw  was  put  into  the  form  of  a  revolving  disk  has 
not  been  recorded.  It  found  its  way  into  this  country  about 
1790,  some  say  from  Holland,  and  was  employed  at  South¬ 
ampton  and  elsewhere  in  wood-mills.  Bentham  greatly  con¬ 
tributed  to  the  practical  arrangements  necessary  to  give  it 
a  convenient  form.  He  describes  and  claims  the  bench  now 
universally  used,  with  the  slit,  parallel  guide,  and  sliding 
bevil  guide,  and  other  contrivances.*  Brunei  introduced  a 
variety  of  ingenious  and  novel  arrangements,  as  well  as  the 
mode  of  making  large  circular  saws  of  many  pieces. f  Mr. 
Smart  also  contrived  a  series  of  sawing-machines  for  making 
canteens,  cutting  tenons,  &c. 

After  the  completion  of  the  block  machinery,  it  becomes 
very  difficult  to  trace  the  subsequent  improvements.  The 
art  of  machine-making  for  working  in  metal  was  gradually 
advancing,  but  is  not  recorded  in  patents,  and  very  little 
described  in  books.  The  slide-rest  principle  was  extended, 
large  self-acting  lathes  constructed,  and  boring-machines 
of  great  precision  and  improving  structure  were  called  into 
existence  by  the  necessity  for  extreme  accuracy  in  the 
.  cylinders  of  steam-engines.  The  best  engravings  of  the 
machines  of  this  period  are  in  “  Rees’  Cyclopaedia,”  and 
in  the  volumes  of  the  “Transactions”  of  the  Society  of 
Arts. 

No  greater  proof  of  the  obscurity  which  hangs  over  the 
history  of  machine-tool  making,  in  the  first  half  of  this 
century,  can  be  given,  than  the  unknown  origin  of  the 
planing-machine  for  metal.  The  machine  which  Nicholas 
Focq  contrived  in  1751,  which  has  been  called  a  planing- 
machine,  has  no  title  to  the  name,  or  any  resemblance  to 
the  modern  engine.  It  is  nothing  but  a  heavy  scraping- 
tool,  which  is  dragged  along  the  bar  upon  which  it  is  to 
operate,  and  rests  upon  it,  pressed  into  hard  contact  with  it 
by  strong  springs.  It  will,  therefore,  smooth  the  surface, 
and  remove  small  irregularities,  as  a  carpenter’s  plane  does 
with  a  board,  but  it  will  not  produce  a  correct  plane  surface, 
or  even  make  successive  cuts.  It  is  a  mere  plane ,  and  not 
a  plane-creating  engine.  Neither  could  the  machines 


*  1793.  Repertory,  vol.  x.  p.  293. 


f  Patent,  1802. 


23G  ON  MACHINES  AND  TOOLS  FOR  WORKING 

patented  by  Bent  ham  in  1791,  and  Bramah  in  1802,  for 
planing  wood,  although  real  planing-engines,  have  suggested 
the  engine  in  question,  for  their  properties  and  arrange¬ 
ments  are  wholly  different.  The  engineers’  planing-machine 
made  its  way  into  the  engineering  world  silently  and  un¬ 
noticed  ;  and  some  years  afterwards,  when  its  utility  be¬ 
came  recognised  and  men  began  to  inquire  into  its  history, 
various  claimants  to  the  honour  of  its  invention  were  put 
forward.  We  can  only  learn  that,  somewhere  about  1820 
or  1821,  a  machine  of  this  kind  was  made  by  several  en¬ 
gineers.  Messrs.  Fox  of  Derby,  and  Roberts  of  Manches¬ 
ter,  appear  amongst  the  number,  and  the  forms  which  they 
gave  to  the  engine  have  remained  permanent.  Mr.  Clem¬ 
ent  has  also  been  mentioned,  as  well  as  others.  It  is  clear 
that  the  inventors  were  not  at  all  aware  of  the  im¬ 
mense  importance  of  their  work,  but  experience  has  proved 
the  utility  of  this  machine  to  be  so  great,  that  it  may  be 
pronounced  the  greatest  boon  to  constructive  mechanism 
since  the  invention  of  the  lathe.  Nevertheless,  no  draw¬ 
ing  or  description  of  the  planing-engine  is  to  be  found  in 
any  English  book  until  1838,  when  the  Society  of  Arts  pub¬ 
lished  beautiful  engravings  of  Mr.  Clement’s  machine;  the. 
complexity  of  this,  and  the  unfortunate  arrangement  of  the 
bed,  which  he  mounted  on  wheels,  has  prevented  it  from 
being  adopted.  The  French  and  other  Continental  mechani¬ 
cal  journals,  much  earlier  began  to  give  engravings  and  de¬ 
scriptions  of  the  English  planing-machine.  In  1829  the 
“  Industrie!’  has  one  of  the  simplest,  and  the  Bulletin  of 
the  “  Societe  d’Encouragement,”  the  collections  of  Le  Blanc, 
Armeugaud,  and  others,  contain  engravings,  not  only  of  the 
planing-macliines,  but  of  the  other  machine-tools  of  all  our  . 
best  English  makers,  generally  accompanied  by  admirable 
descriptions  and  minute  details,  that  may  well  serve  as 
models  to  our  own  writers  on  such  subjects,  and  at  the 
same  time  show  how  much  good  service  is  rendered  by  the 
superior  mathematical  and  theoretical  education  of  French 
engineers.  Be  it  remembered,  too,  that,  not  content  with 
describing  and  analyzing  our  machine-tools,  which  they 
do  in  a  most  liberal  and  admiring  spirit,  they  also  employ 
their  generalizing  powers  in  the  endeavour  to  construct 
improved  forms,  and  with  such  great  promise  of  success, 


IN  METAL,  WOOD,  AND  OTHER  MATERIALS.  237 

that,  unless  we  also  begin  to  apply  science  to  this  subject, 
we  run  considerable  risk  of  falling  behind  our  ingenious 
neighbours. 

The  mortising-engine  of  the  block  machinery  was  applied 
by  Mr.  Roberts,  of  Manchester,  to  the  formation  of  the 
key-ways  of  cast-iron  wheels,  and  also  to  the  paring,  ox- 
planing  by  short  strokes,  of  the  sides  of  small  curvilinear 
pieces  of  metal;  such  as  cams,  short  levers,  and  other 
pieces  that  do  not  admit  of  being  finished  in  the  lathe. 
Thus,  under  the  name  of  slotting  and  paring-machine,  a 
new  and  genei-ally  useful  machine-tool  sprang  up;  and  sub¬ 
sequently  another,  derived  from  it,  has  been  produced,  and 
apparently  with  equal  success,  under  the  title  of  a  shaping- 
machine.  It  is,  in  fact,  a  planing-machine,  in  which  the 
tool  is  attached  to  the  end  of  a  horizontal  bai-,  which  is 
moved  to  and  fro,  so  as  to  plane,  with  short  transverse 
strokes,  a  piece  of  work  fixed  on  a  complex  adjusting-bed, 
or  on  a  revolving  mandril,  so  as  to  receive  the  action  of  the 
tool. 

[All  these  and  other  varieties  of  machine  tools  were,  in 
the  oral  delivery  of  this  Lecture,  illustrated  by  models, 
without  which,  or  diagrams,  it  would  be  impossible  to  state, 
in  an  intelligible  form,  the  explanations  of  the  general  prin¬ 
ciples  which  these  machines  possess  in  common,  which  must 
be  therefore  omitted  in  this  place.] 

The  existence  of  such  principles  leads  us  to  the  hope 
that  machines  much  moi-e  compx-ehensive,  and  yet  simpler 
in  form,  will  be  devised  for  the  same  purposes,  by  means  of 
which  the  construction  of  machinery  in  general  will  attain 
to  greater  perfection ;  and  machine-tools  be  introduced  into 
workshops  of  a  smaller  character  than  at  present,  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  lathe. 

In  America,  a  variety  of  contrivances  are  employed  in 
woi-kshops  to  facilitate  and  give  pi-ecision  to  ordinary  opei-a- 
tions  :  as,  for  example,  the  foot-mortising  machine  for  wood. 
The  earliest  contrivance  of  this  useful  tool  (the  offspring  of 
Bentham’s  mortising  engine),  appears  to  be  in  a  Pennsyl¬ 
vanian  patent  by  John  M'Clintic,  in  1827,*  since  which  the 
machine  has  got  into  general  use  in  America,  and  has  consc- 

*  “  Journal  of  Franklin  Institute,”  vol.  vi.  pp.  18  and  163. 


238  ON  MACHINES  AND  TOOLS  EOR  WORKING 

quently  been  the  subject  of  numerous  patents  for  minor 
arrangements.  One  of  these,  by  Page,  was  engraved  in  the 
“  Mechanics’  Magazine''  (1836,  vol.  xxvi.  p.  385),  and  thus 
introduced  to  English  workmen  ;  and  in  the  last  year  Mr. 
Furness,  of  Liverpool,  has  patented  some  improvements  in 
England,  and  endeavoured  to  introduce  the  machine.  It 
formed  a  very  interesting  object  in  the  Exhibition,  together 
with  other  American  contrivances  for  boring,  tenoning,  and 
such-like  operations,  which  the  peculiar  conditions  of  that 
country  have  called  into  existence,  by  creating  a  market  for 
them. 

In  reviewing  the  comparatively  slow  progress  of  machine- 
tool  making,  it  will  appear  that  in  this,  as  in  other  branches, 
steps  in  invention  that,  when  once  made,  appear  exceedingly 
simple  and  obvious,  are  often  the  most  difficult  to  take.  The 
chance  that  such  steps  will  be  made  is  increased  by  bringing 
to  bear  upon  them  the  greatest  number  of  heads ;  for  the 
peculiar  faculties  or  acquirements  of  one  man,  or  set  of  men, 
may  serve  to  carry  on  an  invention  to  a  certain  point  at 
which  it  is  prepared  for,  and  requires  those  of  another  set 
of  men  who  may  carry  it  further.  In  the  old  time,  the  ex¬ 
ceeding  secrecy  and  jealous  care  with  which  every  new  con¬ 
trivance  was  guarded  and  watched,  retarded  the  advance  of 
machinery  to  an  extent  that  we  can  hardly  believe.  Each 
man  was  working  in  ignorance  of  his  neighbours’  improve¬ 
ments,  and  every  Art  was  indeed  a  Mystery.  And  not 
only  did  these  difficulties  obstruct  the  progress  of  machinery, 
but  the  enormous  expense  of  constructing  new  machines. 
We  know  that  the  art  of  construction  has  undergone  a  com¬ 
plete  revolution  since  the  block  machinery  was  made,  but 
we  can  scarcely  estimate  the  prodigious  amount  of  labour 
and  thought  that  was  required  to  give  existence  to  that 
machinery,  which,  indeed,  could  never  have  been  effected 
without  the  resources  of  the  nation  in  the  then  imperfect 
state  of  the  art.  To  these  retarding  causes  must  bo  added 
the  jealousies  of  workmen  and  their  dislike  of  new  methods. 

I  have  already  alluded  to  the  advantage  of  promoting  a 
more  universal  knowledge  of  each  other’s  methods  amongst 
the  mechanists  of  different  branches  and  countries.  A  very 
interesting  part  of  the  Great  Exhibition  was  the  collection 
of  strauge-looking  tools  from  France,  Germany,  and  else- 


IN  METAL,  WOOD,  AND  OTHER  MATERIALS.  239 

where,  differing  in  their  forms  and  handles  and  mode  of 
operation  from  those  employed  for  the  same  purposes  by 
our  own  workmen.  Without  doubt  some  of  them  might 
afford  useful  hints;  for  example,  the  universal  employment 
of  the  narrow  frame-saw  on  the  Continent  for  work  that  we 
perform  with  broad-bladed  saws,  stiffened  with  brass  (w  iron 
backs,  might  lead  our  workmen  to  consider  whether,  after 
all,  our  practice  is  not  carried  too  far  in  this  respect. 

But  the  facilities  for  working  in  metal,  and  its  general 
introduction  into  all  kinds  of  frame-work,  where  wood  was 
exclusively  employed,  as  well  as  the  substitution  of  cast- 
iron  for  brass,  has  made  it  imperative  upon  persons  of  all 
trades,  which  are  affected  by  these  changes,  to  learn  the 
management  of  these  new  materials,  if  they  desire  to  profit 
by  the  advantages  consequent  upon  their  employment.  Thus, 
the  philosophical  instrument  makers  formerly  employed 
brass  for  their  metal  work,  and  constructed  their  machines, 
even  the  largest  astronomical  instruments,  in  a  great  number 
of  pieces  screwed  together.  We  have  now  learnt  that  stability 
is  best  insured  by  employing  fewer  pieces,  and  that  cast-iron 
is,  on  all  grounds,  a  better  material  than  brass.  But  the 
tools  and  methods  of  working  in  cast-iron  are  wholly  different, 
and  therefore  the  philosophical  instrument  makers  must  turn 
engineers,  and  employ  planing  machines  and  the  like.  The 
making  of  large  clocks,  and  various  other  articles  of  com¬ 
mon  use,  must  undergo  the  same  change.  It  is  useless  to 
say  that  these  men  can  go  to  an  engineer’s  shop  to  get  jobs 
done  tor  them  as  required.  Such  a  method  can  only  lead 
to  a  partial  and  imperfect  employment  of  the  new  resources 
and  advantages  which  are  to  be  developed.  For  instead  of 
a  full  and  complete  adoption  of  these  novelties,  the  use  of 
them  will  be  necessarily  evaded  in  every  case  where  they 
can  be  dispensed  with,  unless  the  master-workman  can 
employ  them  freely  as  his  own. 

In  machinery  we  have  to  deal  with  every  kind  of  material, 
and  to  avail  ourselves  of  the  peculiar  properties  of  all,  in  their 
appropriate  places ;  and  thus  a  skilful  engineer  should  be 
familiar  with  every  kind  of  mechanical  manipulation  and 
material,  from  a  sheet  of  card  paper  to  an  iron  bar,  and 
ought  to  know  as  well  how  to  hem  a  pocket  handkerchief  as 
to  rivet  a  boiler.  It  is  of  no  use  for  him  to  employ  work- 


240  ON  TOOLS  FOR  WORKING  IN  METALS,  ETC. 

men  of  any  trade  in  carrying  out  new  combinations  unless 
be  himself  know  how  to  instruct  them.  A  musician  who  is 
about  to  compose  a  symphony  need  not  be  able  to  play  on 
the  violin  like  Paganini,  or  on  the  piano  like  Thalberg,  but 
he  must  be  well  acquainted  with  the  powers  and  manipula¬ 
tions  «of  these  and  every  other  instrument  before  he  can 
write  passages  that  will  bring  out  their  effects  and  be  adapted 
to  performance.  And,  in  the  same  way,  a  man  who  intends 
to  devise  and  carry  out  a  new  machine  must  be  conversant 
with  the  peculiar  properties  and  mode  of  manipulating  every 
kind  of  material,  that  thus  he  may  select  and  avail  himself 
of  them  to  the  best  advantage. 

And  I  am  persuaded  that  one  of  the  most  important  and 
instructive  lessons  which  the  Great  Exhibition  brought  before 
us,  consisted  in  the  display  and  contrast  of  the  application 
of  different  materials  and  different  methods  to  identical  pur¬ 
poses  by  the  various  nations  of  the  universe.  May  we  be 
enabled  to  read  the  lesson  aright. 


LECTURE  IX. 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS  AND  PRO¬ 
CESSES,  AS  REPRESENTED  IN  THE 
GREAT  EXHIBITION. 


BY 

JAMES  GLAISIIER,  Esq.,  F.R.S. 


21 


(241) 


JAMES  GLAISHER,  Esq.,  F.R.S. 


OST 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS  AND  PRO¬ 
CESSES,  AS  REPRESENTED  IN  THE 
GREAT  EXHIBITION. 


“  Philosophical  Instruments  and  Processes,  as  repre¬ 
sented  in  the  Exhibition,”  form  the  subject  of  my  Lecture 
this  evening.  To  place  you  in  possession  of  my  proposed 
arrangements  for  treating  this  subject,  you  will,  perhaps, 
permit  me  to  speak  of  that  which  I  have  done  as  Reporter, 
and  to  present  to  you  a  brief  sketch  of  the  nature  of  the 
duties  which  devolved  upon  me,  both  in  that  capacity  and 
in  that  of  Juror  for  Class  X. 

My  design  in  writing  the  Report  was  to  render  it  such  a 
record  of  the  subjects  included  in  Class  X.,  that  as  the  time 
arrived  when  the  present  generation,  witness  of  the  contents 
of  the  Great  Palace,  should  have  passed  away,  it  should 
stand  to  succeeding  generations  as  an  authentic  record  of 
the  whole  collection,  so  classified  as  to  kind  and  merit  as  to 
defy  the  influence  of  tradition  either  to  its  enhancement  or 
detraction;  convinced  that  by  so  doing  I  was  best  fulfilling 
the  trust  confided  to  me,  the  object  of  which,  the  extension 
of  human  knowledge,  could  alone  be  achieved  from  the 
solid  basis  of  truth. 

For  the  further  extension  of  human  knowledge,  by  mak¬ 
ing  the  Exhibition  subservient  to  the  improvement  of  art, 
science,  and  industry,  were  these  Lectures  instituted  at  the 
suggestion  of  His  Royal  Highness  Prince  Albert.  As  one 

(243) 


244 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 


honoured  by  the  selection  of  the  Council  of  this  Society  to 
assist  in  the  promotion  of  this  honourable  and  important 
scheme,  it  became  to  me  a  matter  of  deep  reflection,  how, 
in  the  brief  compass  of  a  lecture,  I  could  best  contribute 
to  its  advancement,  and  enlist  at  the  same  time  the  interest 
of  gentlemen,  many  of  them  no  novices  in  the  use  of  in¬ 
struments  and  processes,  of  which,  necessarily,  my  mention 
must  be  very  brief.  Reflection  at  length  decided  me  to  take 
you,  step  by  step,  not  through  the  contents  of  Class  X., 
but,  as  far  as  time  permitted,  through  the  novelties  and 
improvements  which  they  exhibited,  and  to  set  before  you 
the  fruits  of  examinations,  which,  necessarily  special  and 
confined  to  the  few,  were  alone  instituted  for  the  advantage 
of  the  many.  The  reflections  induced  by  the  examination 
of  works  based  upon  the  most  brilliant  discoveries  of  times, 
both  past  and  present,  I  have  been  unable  quite  to  suppress, 
and  have  combined  them  with  my  views  relative  to  the  im¬ 
mediate  and  future  bearing  of  the  Exhibition  upon  science, 
which  last  we  are  not  only  permitted  but  enjoined  to 
express. 

To  carry  out  this  arrangement  I  shall  trespass  on  your 
patience  for  a  little  beyond'the  ordinary  time.  By  placing 
before  you,  however,  a  true  representation  of  the  leading 
features  of  the  Class  we  are  about  to  analyze, — by  placing, 
in  fact,  before  you  a  true  representation  of  its  novelties 
and  excellencies,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  Report,  shortly 
to  be  published,  will  give  you  a  true  representation  of  its 
contents  as  they  existed, — I  hope  that  the  lengthened  at¬ 
tention  you  may  grant  to  me  will  be  repaid  by  the  possess¬ 
ing  you  of  a  part  of  that  information,  which,  far  from  being 
ephemeral,  has  only  been  elicited  by  months  of  examina¬ 
tion,  inquiry,  and  comparison,  to  be  stored  away  among 
the  scientific  archives  of  the  day,  and  so  added  to  our 
treasury  of  knowledge,  from  which  alone  can  we  draw  that 
clue  to  guide  us  through  the  unknown  regions  which  still 
interpose  between  our  knowledge  of  facts  and  their  govern¬ 
ing  laws. 

For  the  fulfilment  of  the  duties  of  Juror  and  Reporter, 
two  classes  of  investigations  were  required.  That  of  Juror 
claimed  and  exacted  from  me  the  careful  and  unprejudiced 
examination  of  subjects,  and  involved  a  just  determination 


AND  PROCESSES. 


245 


of  originality  of  construction,  improvement  of  pi’ocesses, 
discovery  of  principles,  and  a  correct  appreciation  of  me¬ 
chanical  shill ;  that  of  Reporter,  a  duty  to  which  I  was 
elected  at  a  much  later  date,  required  still  more  for  its  ful¬ 
filment;  and  I  found  it  necessary  to  make  myself  acquainted 
with  the  characteristics  of  each  country’s  contributions, 
how  far  the  state  of  science  was  represented  by  each,  the 
causes  of  deficiencies,  and  finally  to  examine  with  care  the 
sources  both  of  success  and  failure.  The  result  of  these 
investigations,  which  for  months  rendered  the  Exhibition  a 
vast  school  to  me,  and  a  means  of  confirming  long  precon¬ 
ceived  opinions,  may  enable  me  with  success  to  point  out 
those  novelties  and  improvements  which  were  most  inacces¬ 
sible  to  the  public,  and  even  to  those  with  whom  the  grati¬ 
fication  of  curiosity  was  a  desire,  slight  in  comparison  with 
that  for  making  themselves  acquainted  with  the  peculiarities 
of  instruments  with  which  they  were  least  familiar.  As 
the  subjects  in  the  collection  were,  without  exception, 
illustrations,  specimens,  or  models  of  those  applications  of 
science,  which  are  exercising  so  great  and  beneficial  an  in¬ 
fluence  over  society  and  the  civilized  world,  a  few  remarks 
upon  the  rise,  progress,  and  importance  of  science,  may  not 
be  considered  an  unfitting  introduction  to  the  description  of 
the  novelties  and  improvements  in  some  of  the  products 
exhibited,  which,  combined  with  art  and  industry,  it  has 
placed  at  our  disposal. 

In  the  early  ages  of  the  world,  man,  acted  upon  by  the 
common  circumstances  of  his  race,  impelled  by  the  pressure 
of  his  physical  wants,  and  actuated  alike  by  a  principle  of 
curiosity  and  the  desire  of  gain,  soon  became  acquainted  by 
actual  discovery  with  the  rough  elements  of  geography,  and 
passing  from  shore  to  shore,  acquired  a  knowledge  of  coun¬ 
tries  fiir  separated,  their  inhabitants  and  productions,  and  so 
laid  the  foundation  of  that  intercourse,  which,  improving 
as  centuries  rolled  on,  extended  alike  the  sphere  of  human 
wants  and  the  power  for  their  supply.  The  variety  of  re¬ 
sources  open  to  each  country,  by  the  exchange  of  material 
products,  and  the  equally  valuable  interchange  of  ideas, 
soon  raised  the  arts  to  a  place  of  the  highest  importance, 
and  enabled  them  long  to  maintain  this  rank  and  materially 
to  administer  to  the  necessities  and  comforts  of  mankind, 
21  * 


246 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 


before  men’s  thoughts  became  directed  to  the  elucidation 
of  those  causes,  with  the  effects  of  which  they  were  daily 
familiar;  but  the  time  came,  slowly  and  gradually,  when 
the  powers  of  science  became  unveiled,  very  imperfectly  it 
is  true,  but  still  so  far  as  to  impress  on  the  mind  of  the  in¬ 
quirer  a  conviction  of  its  power  to  repay  every  attempt 
made  to  penetrate  its  obscurity. 

The  steps  in  the  progress  of  science,  however,  are,  though 
numerous,  so  small,  and  pass  by  so  unperceived,  that  insen¬ 
sibly  we  are  not  led  to  wonder  at  that  which  some  years 
back  would  have  been  considered  a  miracle  :  in  illustration 
of  which  are  the  means  of  locomotion  now  at  our  command 
through  the  applications  of  steam  power  ;  the  instantaneous 
communication  between  place  and  place,  even  to  the  connect¬ 
ing  our  own  island  with  the  Continent,  through  the  agency 
of  electricity ;  the  discovery  of  electro-magnetism,  and  its 
subsequent  applications,  some  of  which  I  shall  this  evening 
mention ;  the  discovery  of  photography,  and  its  application 
to  the  purposes  of  astronomical  science,  and  to  the  self-regis¬ 
tration  of  natural  phenomena,  which,  all  untliought  of  a  tew 
years  ago,  but  now  in  full  activity,  create  no  feeling  other 
than  that  of  admiration  at  the  vast  resources  so  gradually 
and  surely  unfolding  to  us.  And  when  we  pause  to  consider 
that  the  constituents  of  a  great  nation’s  prosperity  agricul¬ 
ture,  manufactures,  and  commerce,  in  tlieir  excellence,  aie 
dependent  upon  science,  the  first  upon  chemistry,  the  second 
upon  mechanics,  the  third  upon  navigation  (itself  dependent 
upon  astronomy),  we  see  that  the  repayment  made  by  it.  to 
the  sources  of  its  establishment  puts  nations  in  possession 
of  an  element,  which,  according  to  the  culture  bestowed 
upon  it,  is  capable  of  conferring  wealth,  prosperity,  and 

P°Such  being,  then,  the  nature  of  the  repayment  made  by 
science  for  the  culture  bestowed  upon  it,  it  remains  now  to 
show  how  far  its  own  interests  have  been  promoted  by  en¬ 
abling  the  illustrious  President,  of  this  Society  to  carry  out 
a  conception,  the  success  of  which  was.  scarcely  more  desira¬ 
ble  than  necessary  to  the  giving  additional  impetus  to  the 
ever,  but  not  equally,  advancing  progress  of  science,— a  con¬ 
ception  which  never  before  the  present  time  could  have  been 
successfully  realized ;  for  long  as  it  is  since  the  free  and 


AND  PROCESSES. 


247 


unlimited  intercourse  between  country  and  country  lias  pre- 
sented*any  barrier  to  the  progress  of  the  arts  and  sciences, 
it  is  only  lately  that  through  their  joint  instrumentality 
space  has  been  so  far  annihilated  as  to  permit  objects,  to  the 
attainment  of  which  a  limited  time  must  suffice,  to  be  suc¬ 
cessfully  carried  through ;  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  recent 
and  rapid  advance  of  science,  the  Exhibition  itself  could  not 
truly  have  represented  its  existing  state  in  all  countries  at 
one  and  the  same  time, — a  representation  only  to  be  effected 
by  the  sufficing  of  a  few  months  for  the  erection  of  the 
building  and  the  arrangement  of  its  contents. 

The  prosecution  of  the  inquiry  of  how  far  the  interests 
of  science  will  have  been  promoted  by  the  Exhibition  brings 
me  to  the  immediate  subject  of  my  Lecture,  and  requires 
that  I  should  lead  you  back  to  the  time  when  the  Exhibition, 
with  its  multitudes,  gave  ample  proof  of  the  public  willing¬ 
ness  to  incur  both  toil  and  expense  for  the  refiued  giatifica- 
tion  afforded  by  the  cultivation  of  intellect,  a  gratification 
so  sought  by  our  countrymen  at  home  and  visiters  from 
abroad,  that  we  are  fairly  entitled  to  look  tor  deep  and  last¬ 
ing  results. 

An  interchange  of  ideas  between  men  of  different  countries 
has  ever  been  esteemed  valuable  and  conducive  to  the  ex¬ 
tension  of  knowledge  ;  but  never  before  the  era  of.  the  Ex¬ 
hibition  was  the  gathering  together  men  of  all  nations,  and 
different  pursuits,  contending  interests,  views,  and  feelings, 
for  its  acquisition  from  one  grand  source,  for  a  time  made 
common  to  all,  ever  resorted  to  as  a  means  to  its  further 
extension.  Thousands  of  our  countrymen  have  visited  the 
collection  of  Class  X.,  having  seen  for  the  first  time  instru¬ 
ments  of  which  they  may  have  read,  or  only  heard,  and 
therefore  never  clearly  understood,  and  have  returned  lio.me 
with  increased  knowledge  and  new  ideas ;  regulated  in  kind 
by  individual  bias,  but  dependent  in  amount  and  value  upon 
the  circumstances  of  education,  mental  capacity,  and  social 
position.  Of  visiters  from  abroad,  the  same  mixture  of 
classes  was  not  to  be  anticipated,  and  experience  has  shown 
that  the  majority  of  foreign  visiters  were  possessed  of  more 
extended  information  than  the  average  class  of  their  country¬ 
men, — information  rendered  valuable  to  us  in  proportion  to 
its  amount,  and  the  facilities  obtained  by  them  for  its  dif- 


248 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 


fusion )  these  must  have  been  great,  for  practical  scientific 
men  were  brought  into  contact  with  practical  working  men 
of  their  own  and  other  countries,  and  men  of  science,  both 
at  home  and  from  abroad,  gathered  to  the  Exhibition  as  to 
a  common  centre. 

The  benefit  to  the  humble  and  working  classes  of  the 
community  we  may  fairly  expect  to  be  great.  For  the  first 
time  has  been  placed  within  their  grasp  a  knowledge  of  what 
has  been  done,  what  is  doing,  and  by  whom, — a  knowledge 
necessary  to  the  prevention  of  the  useless  repetitions  which 
have  so  often  engaged  the  attention  of  the  ingenious  me¬ 
chanic,  who,  ignorant  that  he  is  doing  that  which  has  long 
been  successfully  performed,  sustains  a  real  injury,  whilst 
the  talent  and  industry  possessed  by  him  are  totally  lost  to 
other  causes,  which,  with  better  information,  he  might  have 
successfully  embraced.  At  present  it  is  my  opinion,  that 
the  removal  of  erroneous  impressions,  the  inculcation  of 
new  ideas,  and  the  extension  of  his  range  of  knowledge 
from  the  wide  field  of  observation  so  freely  offered  to  his 
inspection,  will  serve  for  the  base  of  many  an  ingenious  su¬ 
perstructure,  to  form  ultimately  an  addition  either  to  art  or 
science.  In  support  of  my  views,  relative  to  the  benefit  to 
arise  from  the  better  direction  of  industry,  I  may  make 
mention  of  a  case  which  came  under  my  notice  whilst  secre¬ 
tary  to  the  Greenwich  Committee.  A  mechanic  brought 
before  me  and  other  gentlemen,  members  of  the  same  Com¬ 
mittee,  a  folding  joint  of  peculiar,  and,  as  he  thought,  origi¬ 
nal  construction,  which  he  was  desirous  to  exhibit;  he  had 
expended  a  considerable  amount  of  ingenuity  and  industry 
in  its  manufacture,  and  his  surprise  and  disappointment 
wrere  extreme  on  being  told  that  many  similar  had  been  made. 
This  is  a  single  instance  out  of  many  which  could  be  brought 
forward,  individually  of  little  detriment  to  the  cause  we  are 
seeking  to  advance,  but  collectively  of  more  importance. 
And  as  in  order  to  the  well-working  of  any  scheme  a  strict 
attention  to  the  most  minute  and  apparently  insignificant 
details  is  necessary,  so,  in  like  manner,  to  the  carrying  out 
the  views  of  men  qualified  both  by  position  and  intellect  to 
give  direction  to  practical  science  and  philosophical  inquiry, 
is  necessary  the  co-operation  of  talent  and  ability,  which, 
individually  small  in  amount,  may  in  the  aggregate  be  suf- 


AND  PROCESSES. 


249 


llcient  to  turn  the  scale  either  of  success  or  failure ;  and 
every  step  made  towards  the  better  education  of  the  artisan 
is  a  step  to  secure  this  co-operation. 

I  will  now  speak  of  the  benefit  to  accrue  from  the  study 
of  the  instruments  in  their  different  constructions,  by  a 
higher  order  of  minds,  intent  upon  their  practical  applica¬ 
tion.  In  proportion  as  it  is  necessary  to  the  interests  of 
science  that  theory,  observation,  and  experiment,  should 
march  hand  in  hand,  so  is  it  equally  essential  that  theo¬ 
retical  and  practical  men  of  science  should  come  into  con¬ 
tact  with  each  other,  and  both  into  contact  with  men  to 
whom  must  be  intrusted  the  construction  ot  instruments 
necessary  to  the  completion  of  their  views.  A  scheme 
more  conducive  to  this  end  could  scarcely  have  been  designed 
than  the  collection  both  from  this  and  foreign  countries  of 
instruments  and  their  makers,  to  receive  the  criticism  and 
judgment  of  individuals  selected  from  among  those  in  whose 
hands  could  the  instruments  exhibited  prove  chiefly  ser¬ 
viceable;  thus  securing  competent  and  impartial  judges  of 
their  merits.  The  effect  of  this  concentration  of  mind,  both 
English  and  foreign,  has  been,  and  will  still  more  be,  to 
give  direction  to  physical  inquiry  and  mechanical  skill, 
point  out  existing  deficiencies  and  their  remedies,  and  cause 
the  conversion  of  heretofore  suggestive  into  real  practical 
improvements  ;  thus  creating  an  interchange  of  information 
between  nations,  and  so  contributing  to  the  advantage  and 
wealth  of  all. 

As  knowledge  and  industrial  skill  are  rendered  permanent 
chiefly  through  the  publicity  given  to  them,  so,  in  like  man¬ 
ner,  is  necessary  to  the  extension  of  discovery  and  the 
developement  of  principles  the  publicity  which  the  Exhibi¬ 
tion  has  so  eminently  afforded  ;  some  instances  of  the  accele¬ 
rating  power  of  which,  over  the  adoption  of  new  methods 
and  new  applications,  I  shall  this  evening  instance.  But  I 
will  not  occupy  you  longer  with  these  reflections,  founded, 
however,  so  far  as  connected  with  the  Exhibition,  upon  the 
careful  estimation  of  facts  which  have  fallen  beneath  my 
own  observation,  and  are  not  at  all  influenced  by  an  imagin¬ 
ation  which,  from  my  having  been  engaged  during  my 
whole  life  in  elucidating  results  from  given  and  assured 
facts,  is  singularly  averse  to  all  speculative  suggestions. 


250  PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 

Before  proceeding  farther,  it  will  be  desirable  to  point 
out  bow  far  the  list  of  expected  Philosophical  Instruments 
has  been  realized.  The  following  list  is  a  copy  of  that 
drawn  up  by  Dr.  Playfair,  and  printed  in  the  “  Official 
Catalogue 

PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS. 

DR.  PLAYFAIR’S  CLASSIFICATION. 

Instruments  for  Measuring  of  Space. 

1.  In  fixed  Observatories,  as  Transits,  Transit  Circles, 

Great  Quadrants,  Mural  Circles,  Zenith  Sectors, 
Altarimeters,  Equatoreals,  Collimators,  &c. 

2.  For  Nautical  Astronomy  and  Observations,  as  Sextants, 

Reflecting  and  Repeating  Circles,  Hip  Sectors,  &c. 

3.  Astronomical  and  Topographical  Illustrations,  as 

Globes,  Orreries,  Planetariums,  Maps,  Charts. 

4.  Optical  Instruments,  as  great  Refracting  and  Reflecting 

Telescopes,  with  their  appurtenances,  Equatoreal 
Motions,  &c. 

5.  Apparatus  subordinate  to  Graduated  Instruments,  as 

divided  Object-glasses  and  Ileliometers,  Eye-pieces, 
Micrometers,  Micrometer  Microscopes,  &c. 

6.  Survey  Instruments,  Topographical,  as  Base  Apparatus, 

Theodolites,  Repeating  Circles,  Geodetic  Signals, 
Levelling  Apparatus,  Miners’  and  Prismatic  Com¬ 
passes,  Pocket  Sextants,  Perambulators,  Pedometers  ; 
Hydrographical,  as  Sounding  Machines,  Patent  Logs, 
Current-meters,  Silometers. 

Instruments  to  Measure  tiie  Effects  of  Mechanical  and 

Physical  Forces. 

1.  Mechanical,  as  Dynamometers,  Tachymeters. 

2.  Mass-weighing  Instruments,  as  Weighing  Machines, 

Scales,  Chemical  and  Assay  Balances. 

3.  Density,  as  Areometers  and  other  Instruments  to  de¬ 

termine  specific  gravity,  Invariable  Pendulums,  At- 
Avood’s  Machine. 

4.  To  measure  other  physical  effects,  including  Meteoro¬ 

logical  Instruments,  as  Barometers,  Hydrometers, 
Eudiometers,  Thermometers,  Pyrometers,  Electro¬ 
meters,  Rheometers,  Magnetometers,  &c. 

Relief  or  Model  Mapping. — Specimens  of  Models. 
Standard  Measures  of  Length. — Standard  Bars,  Standard 
Bar  Measure. 

Dividing  Machines. 


AND  PROCESSES. 


251 


Balances. 

Coin-weighing  Machines. 

Optical  Instruments. — Telescope  Microscopes,  Optical 
Object-glasses  for  Telescopes,  Solid  Eye-pieces,  Optical 
Glasses,  Lenses,  Prisms,  Speculums,  Light-houses, 
Heliostats,  Saccharometers,  Holoscopes,  Spectacles, 
Opera  Glasses,  Dissolving  Views  Apparatus,  Dioptric 
Prismatic  Lantern,  Phantasmagoria  Lantern,  Photo¬ 
graphic  Camera,  Multiplying  Cameras,  Photographic 
Glasses. 

Photography. — Daguerreotype  Pictures,  Talbotypes,  Kalo- 
types,  Sun  Pictures. 

Air  Pumps. 

Aerial  Machines. 

The  following  list  contains  a  similarly  classified  speci¬ 
fication  of  those  instruments  which  really  were  exhibited, 
and  a  comparison  with  that  of  Dr.  Playfair  will  show  the 
omissions,  and  their  nature  : — 

PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS  AS  EXHIBITED. 

Astronomical  Instruments. — Transits,  Equatoreals,  Tran¬ 
sit  Circles,  Altitude  and  Azimuth  Instruments,  Ap¬ 
paratus  for  recording  Observations  by  means  of  Gal¬ 
vanic  Currents. 

Nautical  Instruments. — Reflecting  Circles,  Sextants,  Sea- 
lead,  Self-detector  Compasses,  Aquatic  Velocimeter. 

Surveying  and  Levelling  Instruments. — Transit  Theodolites, 
Theodolites,  Repeating  Theodolites,  Miners’  Theodolites, 
Surveying  Cross,  Levels  and  Levelling  Apparatus,  Beam 
Draining  Levels,  Levelling  Protractor,  Miners’.  Com¬ 
passes,  Astronomical  Compasses,  Diastemeter  (Distance 
Measurer). 

Magnetism. — Magnets ;  Application  of  Electro-magnetism 
to  the  Movement  of  Machines. 

Electricity. — Electric  Telegraph,  Domestic  Telegraph, 
Chemical  Apparatus. 

Meteorological  Instruments. — Self-registering  Meteorolo¬ 
gical  Apparatus,  Barometers,  Thermometers,  Anemo¬ 
meters,  Typhode'iciton  or  Storm  Pointer,  Pirometers, 
Dynamometers,  Tide  Gauges. 

Drawing  Instruments. — Proportional  Compasses,  Cases  of 
Instruments,  Planimeter,  Graphic  Telescope,  Protractors, 
Pentagraphs,  Parallel  Rulers,  Sectors. 

Orreries,  Planetariums,  Astronomical  Machines,  Dialling 
Globes,  Calculating  Machines,  Instruments  for  the  Blind, 
Miscellaneous. 


252  PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 

Application  of  Mechanical  and  Physical  Science  to  Useful 
Purposes,  not  included  in  any  of  the  preceding  or  subse¬ 
quent  Sections. 

1.  Mechanics. — 

_  ,,  .  .  )  When  not  included  in  Sec- 

a  Stereo-Mechanics  I  ^ions  describing  their  more 
5  Hydro-Mechanics  j  extended  uses, 
c  Pneumo-Mechanics ;  Air-Pumps— rarefying  and  con¬ 
densing  ;  Hiving  Bells  ;  Air  Balloons,  &c. 

2.  Sound. — (Not  including  Musical  Instruments.) 

a  Instruments  to  assist  Hearing. 
b  Alarums ;  Bells. 

c  Models  of  Acoustical  Buildings,  &c. 

3.  Light.  Instruments  to  assist  Vision— as,  Smaller  Tele¬ 

scopes,  Opera-glasses,  Spectacles,  Microscopes,  Lenses, 
Mirrors,  .Signals,  Visual  Telegraphs,  Lighthouses,  Op¬ 
tical  Illusions,  Gas  and  Solar  Microscopes,  Cameras, 
Photography,  Polarization  of  Light,  &c. 

4.  Heat. — Apparatus  for  producing  Heat,  for  Freezing, 

Thermostats,  Burning  Lenses,  and  Mirrors,  &c. 

5.  Magnetism  and  Electricity— Mariners’  Compasses,  Elec¬ 

tric  and  Electro-magnetic  Telegraphs,  Electric  Light, 
Applications  of  Electro-magnetism  as  a  Motive  Power, 
Therapeutic  Applications  of  Electricity,  Electrotype, 
Apparatus  and  Specimens,  &c. 

6.  Chemical  and  Pharmaceutical  Apparatus. 

7.  Miscellaneous. 

Instruments  to  Illustrate  the  Laws  of  Mechanical  and 
Physical  Science. 

1.  Kinematics. — Instruments  to  exhibit  and  describe  Mo¬ 

tions  and  their  Combinations ;  Compasses,  Penta- 
graphs,  Instruments  for  describing  Elliptical  and  other 
figures,  &c. 

2.  Mechanics,  or  Instruments  to  illustrate  the  Laws  ot 

Static  and  Dynamic  Forces. 

a  Stereo-mechanics ;  as  for  illustrating  Mechanical 
Powers,  Accelerated  and  Retarded  Motion,  Equi¬ 
librium  and  Parallelogram  of  Forces,  Levers,  Ca- 
tlietometers,  Centripetal  and  Centrifugal  Forces, 
Elasticity,  &c. 

b  Hydro-mechanics,  as  Instruments  to  illustrate  the 
"Motion  and  Impinging  Force  of  Waves,  &c._ 
c  Pneumo-mechanics,  as  Apparatus  connected  with  the 
Air-pumps,  &c. 


AND  PROCESSES.  253 

3.  Instruments  to  illustrate  the  Laws  of  Corpuscular  Forces, 

as  Whitworth’s  Planes;  Endosometers. 

4.  Instruments  to  illustrate  the  Laws  of  Sound. 

5.  Instruments  to  illustrate  the  Laws  of  Light. 

6.  Instruments  to  illustrate  the  Laws  of  Heat. 

7.  Instruments  to  _  illustrate  the  Laws  of  Electricity,  in¬ 

cluding  Voltaic  and  Thermo-electricity,  Magnetism, 
Electro-magnetism,  Magnetic  Electricity,  Dia-magnet- 
ism,  &c. 

Many  of  the  omissions  are  easily  accounted  for.  More 
than  one  of  our  best  opticians  were  averse  to  exhibiting  at 
all;  and  when,  finally,  they  did  exhibit,  sent  such  instru¬ 
ments  as  were  most  easily  procurable,  and  which  could  be 
most  ^conveniently  sent.  It  was  not  to  be  expected  but  that 
the  Exhibition,  in  its  infancy,  would  have  to  contend  with 
reluctance  on  the  part  of  those  whose  contributions  must, 
by  their  nature,  be  costly,  and  easily  deranged,  either  by 
exposure  or  by  transmission  from  place  to  place;  but,  as 
the  undertaking  progressed,  and  its  success  became  assured, 
this  reluctance  was,  in  many  cases,  overcome  by  a  convic¬ 
tion,  that  the  benefit  to  be  derived  from  exhibition  would 
counterbalance  the  possible  deterioration  of  the  contribution, 
though  the  willingness  to  exhibit  induced  by  this  conviction, 
in  several  cases,  came  too  late  to  be  made  available.  All 
these  considerations,  among  which  the  portability  of  the  in¬ 
struments  was  one  of  great  importance,  influenced  greatly 
the  extent  of  the  collection  from  foreign  countries,  forming 
altogether  a  combination  of  circumstances,  the  existence  of 
which  should  prevent  our  entertaining  any  feeling  of  sur¬ 
prise,  though  we  may  be  permitted  to  express  one  of  disap¬ 
pointment,  at  the  difference  plainly  observable  between  Dr. 
Playfair  s  list  and  my  own  specification  of  subjects  actually 
exhibited. 

The  same  causes  joined  to  the  many  and  contending  in¬ 
terests  of  those,  particularly  of  our  own  country,  who  did 
exhibit,  operated  to  produce  other  results.  Many  were  im¬ 
pelled  to  exhibit  from  the  opportunity  afforded  them  of 
taking  a  recognised  step  in  advance  of  their  former  position, 
by  contributing  some  novelty,  improvement,  or  specimen  of 
good  workmanship,  the  highest  effort  of  their  productive 
skill ;  others  exhibited  in  a  purely  commercial  point  of 


254 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 


view,  and  sent  collections  of  shop  goods  calculated  to  attract 
the  attention  of  the  undiscerning  part  of  the  public,  more 
intent  upon  the  possession  of  a  cheap  and  attractive,  than 
an  essentially  good  instrument.  Some  few  were  actuated 
by  a  desire  to  preserve  undiminished  to  our  country  the 
credit  due  to  her  philosophical  instruments  and  their  makers, 
and  so  furnished  to  the  public  an  opportunity  of  inspecting 
instruments,  too  valuable,  and  in  their  use  too  exclusive,  to 
he  often  so  exposed ;  for  in  the  practice  of  an  observatory, 
in  the  use  of  balances,  in  the  measuring  rods  of  a  survey, 
the  standard  measures  of  length  by  which  they  are  deter¬ 
mined  require  a  seclusion,  the  object  of  which  would  be 
totally  defeated  by  the  admission  of  the  general  public  to 
the  inspection  of  the  instruments  so  in  use.  It  must, 
however,  be  clearly  understood  that  the  instruments  as 
collected  did  not  truly  represent  the  existing  state  of 
science. 

Since,  in  the  Report,  I  have  included  such  reflections  as 
presented  themselves  to  my  mind  at  the  time  of  writing, 
and  when  the  instruments  were  all  collected,  those  I  shall 
speak  of  to-night  will  chiefly  be  the  result  of  reflection  and 
experience  since  the  close  of  the  Exhibition.  In  following 
out  my  proposed  arrangement,  I  shall  adhere  as  much  as 
possible  to  the  order  observed  in  the  Lists  and  in  the  Re¬ 
port;  and  as  the  subjects  are  numerous  and  varied,  I  must 
be  permitted  to  pass  without  comment  from  one  to  the 
other,  however  differing  in  their  objects  and  arrangements. 
According,  then,  to  the  order  of  classification,  Astronomical 
Instruments  claim  our  first  attention. 

Astronomical  Instruments. 

That,  large  astronomical  instruments  should  be  much  re¬ 
presented  in  the  Exhibition  was  not  to  be  expected,  and 
particularly  from  distant  lands ;  their  removal  is  at  all  times 
hazardous,  and  equally  injurious,  pi’obably,  would  have  been 
their  exposure  for  any' length  of  time  :  hence  we  find  that, 
with  the  exception  of  the  large  equatoreal  by  Ross,  there 
was  not  one ;  and  in  this  case,  the  divided  circles,  or  deli 
cate  portions,  were  not  large.  This  instrument  was  princi¬ 
pally  remarkable  for  its  solidity,  good  distribution  of 


AND  PROCESSES. 


255 


strength,  and  fewness  of  parts.  It  was  furnished  with 
clock  motion,  and  was  a  fine  specimen  of  engineering 
casting. 

As  regards  the  instruments  exhibited  by  Simms,  they 
were  distinguished,  not  only  by  excellent  workmanship,  but 
also  for  new  contrivances,  greatly  facilitating  observation ; 
and,  when  it  is  considered  how  many  men  of  a  high  order 
of  mind  have  devoted  themselves  to  the  construction  of 
astronomical  instruments,  any  decided  improvement  indicates 
a  very  high  order  of  merit :  some  of  these  improvements  I 
will  enumerate. 

To  two  equatoreals  exhibited  by  Mr.  Simms,  he  has 
adapted  their  equatoreal  axes  for  the  application  of  a  level, 
and  thus  greatly  simplified  their  adjustments,  besides  making 
them  more  useful  instruments.  To  one  of  them  was  applied 
a  clock-work  motion,  by  means  of  which  the  motion  of  the 
telescope  was  made  to  counteract  that  of  the  earth,  thus 
enabling  the  observer  to  look  upon  a  moving  object  as 
though  it  were  not  moving. 

To  an  altitude-and-azimuth  instrument,  a  telescope  fur¬ 
nished  with  spider  lines  was  placed  in  the  centre  of  its 
azimuthal  axis,  for  the  purpose  of  acting  as  a  central  colli¬ 
mator  and  constant  referring  point. 

Another  novelty  was  the  conversion  of  the  axis  of  a 
transient  instrument  into  a  telescope,  thus  affording  a  ready 
means  of  examining  the  form  of  its  pivots,  as  well  as  readily 
adapting  it  to  the  observation  of  stars,  both  in  the  meridian 
and  in  the  prime  vertical. 

To  a  small  transit  circle,  furnished  with  one  lamp,  was 
shown  a  mode  of  illuminating  the  divisions  on  the  micro¬ 
meter  head,  on  the  limb  and  the  field  of  view,  in  such  a 
way  that  the  observer  should  have  complete  power,  either 
over  the  illumination  of  the  entire  field,  or  of  the  wires 
alone,  the  field  itself  being  in  darkness.  The  observer  is 
thus  enabled  to  record  the  position  of  a  star  whose  light  is 
so  feeble  that  the  amount  of  light  merely  sufficient  to  illu¬ 
mine  the  field  is  more  than  enough  to  drown  that  of  the  star, 
It  is,  in  fact,  an  arrangement  by  which  our  optical  power  is 
increased  by  our  present  optical  means. 

It  would  be  well  to  dwell  for  a  few  moments  on  the 
different  modes  of  illumination.  As  you  all  know,  the  field 


256 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 


of  view  in  the  telescope  of  an  astronomical  instrument  is 
furnished  with  a  system  of  one  or  two  horizontal,  and  of 
five  or  seven  vertical  wires,  as  shown  in  the  annexed  diagram, 
which  exhibits  the  appearance  of  the  field  of  view  when  un¬ 
der  full  illumination,  and  when  the  wires  only  are  illumi¬ 
nated. 


£ 


* 


An  observation”  by  an  instrument  placed  in  the  plane 
of  the  meridian  consists  in  directing  the  telescope  so  that 
the  star  is  bisected  by  the  horizontal  wire  (to  determine  its 
north  polar  distance),  and  by  noting  the  times  at  which  it 
passes  the  several  vertical  wires  (to  determine  its  right 
ascension) ;  these  times  being  determined  by  mentally 
dividing  into  ten  parts  the  space  traversed  by  the  star  in 
one  second,  and  deciding  that  tenth  of  the  second  when  it 
crossed  the  wire,  as  shown  in  the  example  subjoined  to  the 
above  diagrams. 

As  there  are  but  few  object-glasses  large  enough  to  show 
many  stars  during  the  day,  it  is  necessary  that  the  field  of 
view  be  illuminated  in  order  that  the  wires  be  distinctly 
seen  at  night.  This  was  done  formerly  by  placing  a  small 
oval  reflector  in  front  of  the  object-glass  of  the  telescope, — 
a  plan  not  only  objectionable  on  account  of  some  part  of 
the  aperture  being  cut  off,  but  because,  on  change  of  alti¬ 
tude,  it  was  necessary  to  re-arrange  the  distant  lamp  or 
candle,  so  that  the  light  should  fall  properly  upon  the 


AND  PROCESSES.  257 

reflector  for  convergence  to  the  wire-plate  of  the  telescope, 
as  shown  at  c  in  fig.  1  of  the  annexed  diagram. 

1  2 


(^Ql3 


fn. 

The  introduction  of  a  diagonal  reflector,  placed  within 
the  axis  of  an  astronomical  telescope  at  an  angle  of  45°, 
was  a  very  great  improvement  upon  the  preceding  method. 
The  light  in  this  case  passes  from  a  lantern,  h,  placed  near 
one  of  the  pivots  of  the  axis  upon  which  the  telescope  turns, 
perforated  to  receive  a  convex  lens  :  by  this  arrangement, 
the  rays  of  light,  after  crossing,  diverge  upon  and  are  spread 
over  the  surface  of  the  reflector,  cj  h,  by  which  they  are 
turned  at  right  angles,  and  are  thus  made  to  illuminate  the 
field  of  view. 

The  degree  of  illumination  necessary  is  dependent  upon 
the  brightness  of  the  object,  and  hence  the  necessity  for  a 
means  of  varying  the  amount  of  light ;  this  has  been  effected 
in  various  ways,  such  as,  by  turning  the  lantern  out  of  the 
direct  line  of  the  axis,  by  introducing  an  adjustable  aperture 
between  the  lantern  and  the  perforated  end  of  the  pivot,  or 
by  placing  an  expanding  diaphragm  between  the  eye-piece 
and  the  diagonal  reflector.  But  Mr.  Simms  has  effected  all 
this  much  more  simply  and  effectually  by  giving  motion  to 

the  reflector  itself,  which  is  made  to  turn  upon  pivots  (as 
oo  * 


258 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 


shown  in  figure  3),  by  means  of  a  rod  proceeding  from  it, 
m,  and  terminating  beyond  the  tube  of  the  telescope,  at  or 
near  the  eye-piece,  and  consequently  near  the  observer’s 
band.  By  this  means,  the  maximum  illumination  is  given 
when  the  reflector  is  situated  at  an  angle  of  45°  from  the 
axis  of  rotation  and  the  optical  axis  of  the  telescope,  the 
whole  of  the  light  being  reflected  perpendicularly  upon  the 
diaphragm ;  but  if  the  reflector  be  turned  to  that  position 
which  is  parallel  to  the  axis,  no  light  whatever  is  reflected 
from  it.  It  is  therefore  evident,  that  between  these  two 
positions  all  degrees  of  illumination  can  be  obtained.  But 
there  are  some  objects,  such  as  comets,  nebulae,  small  planets, 
and  stars,  which  are  visible  only  when  all  light  is  excluded 
from  the  field.  To  ascertain  the  position  of  such  objects 
was  one  of  great  difficulty ;  the  means  usually  adopted  were, 
the  insertion  of  very  thick  bars  of  metal  in  the  wire-plate  or 
diaphragm,  instead  of  fine  wires,  and  in  observation  to  hide 
the  star  behind  the  horizontal  bar  to  determine  its  north 
polar  distance,  the  times  of  its  disappearance  behind  the 
several  vertical  bars  being  noted  to  determine  its  right  as¬ 
cension  :  but  such  observations  were  little  better  than  guess¬ 
work,  and  were  very  unsatisfactory.  Another  method,  cer¬ 
tainly  much  better,  has  been  employed,  the  object  of  which 
was  to  illumine  the  wires,  only  leaving  the  field  in  dark¬ 
ness.  This  was  done  by  opening  a  channel  in  the  tube, 
nearly  in  the  plane  of  the  diaphragm,  through  which  light 
was  admitted  from  a  lantern  generally  attached  to  the  eye- 
end  of  the  telescope.  This  arrangement,  though  certainly 
much  better  than  the  preceding,  was  open  to  grave  ob¬ 
jections,  and  leads  me  to  the  last  improvement  exhibited, 
which  answers  admirably,  inasmuch  as  it  places  the  degree 
of  illumination  under  the  command  of  the  observer,  who  can 
instantaneously  alter  it  in  such  a  manner  as  the  case  may 
require. 

This  very  great  improvement  is  effected  by  the  attachment 
of  one  or  more  prisms  to  the  adjustable  reflector,  in  such 
way,  that  when  the  reflector  is  in  the  position  to  reflect  the 
largest  quantity  of  light  in  the  direction  of  the  optical  axis 
of  the  telescope,  and  consequently  to  fill  the  field  of  view 
with  light,  the  prism  is  out  of  action ;  but  that  as  the  in¬ 
tensity  gradually  diminishes  as  the  reflector  approaches  to 


AND  PROCESSES. 


259 


that  position  parallel  to  the  axis  where  no  light  is  reflected, 
at  that  instant  the  prism  takes  up  the  middle  pencil  of  rays 
proceeding  from  the  lamp,  and  reflects  it  to  another  prism 
situated  in  the  plane  of  the  wire  plate,  by  which  it  is  Anally 
reflected,  and  illuminates  the  wires  only,  leaving  the  field 
in  darkness,  so  that  the  observations  of  an  extremely  faint 
object  can  be  as  easily  obtained  as  those  of  a  bright  one. 
This  arrangement  is  explained  in  the  following  diagram. 


Let  f  d  and  f  c  represent  the  (axis  of)  movable  reflector 
in  its  two  extreme  positions,  viz.  that  in  which  it  reflects 
the  maximum  quantity  of  light,  and  that  in  which  it  reflects 
no  light  whatever;  h,  the  diaphragm  upon  which  the  cross¬ 
wires  are  fixed  in  the  focus  of  the  eye-piece ;  g,  a  prism  so 
placed  as  to  reflect  upon,  and  diffuse  over  the  diaphragm, 
such  rays  of  light  as  enter  it  in  the  direction  eg;  and  b  e, 
b  c,  Lj,  rays  of  light  proceeding  from  the  lantern  a  b. 

When  the  reflector  is  in  the  position  /  cl,  the  rays  b  e, 
l  j,  are  reflected  in  the  direction  of  the  optical  axis  of  the 
telescope,  and  consequently  fill  the  field  of  view  with  li^ht, 
and  give  the  appearance  shown  in  the  first  diagram  (p.  258)' 
As  the  reflector  approaches  the  position  f  c,  the  intensity 
of  the  light  gradually  diminishes,  and  when  the  position  f  c 
is  attained  no  light  whatever  is  reflected;  at  this  instant 


260 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 


the  prism  d,  which  has  dropped  from  d  to  c,  takes  lip  the 
middle  ray,  b  c,  and  reflects  it  to  g,  causing  the  field  of  view 
to  assume  the  appearance  shown  in  fig.  2  of  the  diagram  (p. 
258). 

Mr.  Simms  exhibited  a  diagonal  transit  instrument,  of 
the  same  form  as  that  so  much  used  on  the  Continent ;  in 
this  construction  the  cone  of  rays  which  pass  from  the  object- 
glass  do  not  proceed  directly  to  a  focus,  as  in  the  ordinary 
telescope,  but  are  reflected  by  a  prism  or  speculum  placed 
within  the  axis,  and  form  an  image  in  one  of  the  pivots,  in 
which  also  the  wire-frame  and  eye-piece  are  placed,  as  shown 
in  the  annexed  figure. 

O 


k 


il 


s 

F 

In  this  form  of  instrument  the  cone  of  rays  transmitted 
by  an  object-glass,  li,  instead  of  proceeding  to  a  focus  at  p, 
are  intercepted  by  a  prism  at  c,  and  reflected  to  g,  where  an 
image  is  formed  upon  the  diaphragm  in  the  focus  of  the 
eye-piece. 

The  advantage  possessed  by  this  form  of  instrument  over 
that  ordinarily  used  is,  that  the  observer  is  seated  with  all 
ease  at  his  instrument,  and  has  no  change  of  position  to 
make,  whatever  may  be  the  altitude  of  the  object  under  ob¬ 
servation  )  the  serious  objection  to  its  use  has  hitherto  been 


AND  PROCESSES. 


261 


the  defective  means  obtained  for  illuminating  the  fund  of 
view,  as  was  to  be  seen  in  the  instrument  shown  by  Ertel 
in  the  Exhibition,  where  the  old  method  was  still  adhered 
to,  viz.  placing  a  small  diagonal  reflector  in  front  of  the  ob¬ 
ject-glass,  as  shown  in  diagram  2,  a  plan  to  which  there  are 
many  objections  :  1st.  The  difficulty  of  throwing  light  at 
all  upon  the  reflector ;  2dly.  The  trouble  of  re-adjusting  it 
for  every  change  of  position;  and,  3dly.  Part  of  the  object- 
glass  is  cut  off.  In  the  instrument  exhibited  by  Mr.  Simms, 
he  has  most  ingeniously  overcome  these  difficulties  by  in¬ 
troducing  in  the  other  pivot  a  convex  lens,  a,  and  at  the 
back  of  the  prism  a  second  convex  lens,  b,  the  diameter  of 
the  latter  being  such  that  three  segments  of  it  project  beyond 
the  sides  of  the  prism,  c.  In  this  arrangement  the  rays  of 
light  from  the  lantern,  first  converged  by  the  small  lens, 
after  crossing,  again  diverge  and  fall  upon  the  larger  lens,  by 
the  refractive  power  of  which  they  again  suffer  convergence 
and  are  diffused  over  the  field  of  view,  g. 

Germany  furnished  a  portable  universal  instrument  by 
Ertel  and  Sons  :  this  was  a  beautiful  instrument,  intended 
by  its  maker  to  combine  the  greatest  possible  simplicity 
with  the  greatest  possible  firmness ;  its  clamps  were  applied 
in  all  cases  to  the  centre,  to  prevent  the  bending  of  the 
spokes  or  affecting  the  figure  of  the  circle.  The  work  of 
'this  instrument  in  every  respect  was  found  to  be  very  good, 
the  divisions  were  fine,  clear,  and  distinct. 

A  portable  equatoreal,  of  good  workmanship,  was  for¬ 
warded  by  Merz,  of  Munich,  who,  by  not  forwarding  a  more 
original  and  valuable  instrument,  did  not  do  justice  to  him¬ 
self  or  German  work,  which  was  not  properly  represented 
in  the  Exhibition,  for  Germany  by  no  means  put  forth  her 
strength. 

The  divisions  on  both  these  instruments  were  fine  speci¬ 
mens  of  hand-dividing ;  and  when  it  is  considered  that  this 
operation  requires  the  operator  to  be  in  a  darkened  room  for 
weeks  together,  involving  close  application,  of  a  most  hurt¬ 
ful  nature  to  his  health,  it  is  with  much  satisfaction  we  find 
that,  beautiful  as  the  divisions  on  Simms’s  instruments  were 
found  to  be,  they  were  the  work  of  his  self-acting  dividing 
engine,  and  that  the  whole  of  the  operations  of  dividing  and 


262  PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 

cutting  were  performed  by  machinery,  independent  of  any 
personal  superintendence  after  the  preliminary  arrangements 
were  completed.  The  application  ot  this  machine  inatciially 
lessens  the  expense  of  instruments,  thereby  placing  the  pur¬ 
suit  of  science  more  in  the  power  of  those  who,  earnestly 
wishing  to  be  useful,  could  not  with  prudence  incur  too  large 
an  outlay  in  the  purchase  of  instruments. 

It  is  remarkable  that  not  a  single  astronomical  instru¬ 
ment  was  furnished  by  France. 

I  must  for  a  moment  be  permitted  a  digression, .  in 
order  to  complete  my  description  of  the  novelties  exhibited 

in  this  section.  __  .  . 

In  the  year  1800,  Volta  discovered  that  voltaic  electricity 
was  generated  by  the  immersion  of  two  metals  in  an  acid, 
which  acted  on  one  of  them:  in  1820,  Oersted  linked 
together  the  sciences  of  electricity  and  magnetism,  and 
proved  that  the  one  acts  upon  the  other,  not  in  straight 
lines,  as  other  forces  do.  but  in  a  direction  at  right  angles : 
so  that,  if  bodies  be  invested  with  electricity,  they  possess  a 
tendency  to  place  magnets  in  a  position  at  right  angles  to 
themselves,  whilst,  on  the  contrary,  magnets  have  the  effect 
of  placing  bodies  conducting  electricity  at  right  angles  to 
themselves,  and,  consequently,  an  electric  current  exercises 
a  magnetic  action  at  right  angles  to  its  own  direction  :  if, 
then,  a  wire  be  coiled  in  a  spiral  form,  and  electrified,  it 
becomes  a  magnet ;  and  if  within  this  coil  be  placed  a  core 
of  soft  iron,  which  has  the  effect  of  concentrating  its  power, 
it  becomes  a  very  powerful  magnet,  and  by  making  and 
breaking  its  connexion  with  a  galvanic  battery,  thus  alter¬ 
nately  making  and  destroying  the  action  of  magnetism,  we 
can  instantly  unmake  this  magnet  and  obtain  a  moving 
power,  which  it  is  evident,  when  once  produced,  is  capable 
of  application  to  many  purposes  by  suitable  mechanism. 

The  Americans,  with  their  characteristic  energy,  have 
extensively  used  these  physical  laws  in  their  electric  tele¬ 
graphs,  and  have  also  applied  them  to  astronomical  pui- 
poses,  and  to  the  determination  of  the  difference  of  longi¬ 
tude.  In  the  American  department,  No.  37,  Bond  exhibited 
an  apparatus  for  observing  transits  by  means  of  a  galvanic 
circuit.  It  consists  of  a  break-circuit-clock,  battery,  wires, 


AND  PROCESSES. 


263 


and  a  cylinder,  around  which  paper  is  wrapped.  This  cy« 
linder  is  mounted  on  a  delicate  axis,  furnished  with  friction 
rollers,  and  revolves  once  in  a  minute;  the  circuit  is  broken 
and  restored  by  the  seconds  pendulum,  so  that  60  seconds 
are  recorded  on  one  line :  there  are  60  lines  on  each  sheet 
of  paper.  The  armature  of  the  electro-magnet  carries  a 
glass  pen,  supplied  with  ink  from  a  small  reservoir,  and  the 
records  are  made  as  the  paper  revolves  under  this  pen. 

In  ordinary  transit  observations  the  observer  takes  a 
second  from  the  clock-face ;  counts  the  beats  whilst  the 
object  passes  the  wires ;  records  these  times  by  the  clock  to 
the  tenth  part  of  a  second ;  writes  them  in  a  book,  still 
counting  the  beats  of  the  clock ;  and  after  the  transit  of  the 
last  wire,  continues  counting  on  till  he  can  look  at  the 
clock-face :  but,  in  the  new  method,  the  coincidence  of  the 
wire  and  the  object  is  noted,  at  which  instant  a  key  is 
touched  with  the  finger,  this  touch  causing  an  impression 
to  be  made  on  the  recording  apparatus, — of  a  dot  if  the 
touch  be  momentary,  of  a  series  of  dots  separated  by  equal 
spaces,  if  the  intervals  of  time  between  successive  touches 
be  equal,  as  shown  in  fig.  1  of  the  annexed  diagram;  of 
lines  of  different  lengths,  if  the  times  of  pressing  the  key 
be  variable,  as  shown  in  figs.  2  and  5 ;  of  equal  lengths, 
if  the  times  be  of  equal  duration,  or  at  equal  intervals,  as 
shown  in  figs.  3,  4,  and  6.  In  this  manner  may  be  gene¬ 
rated  a  series  of  dots,  lines,  and  blanks  of  all  varieties  of 
lengths. 


1 

•  m  *  » 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6  7 

- “  y 

_ n_  si 

4 

5 

Lines  of  equal  length,  or  spots  equi-distant,  may  be  re¬ 
gistered  by  the  movement  of  a  clock  alternately  making  and 
breaking  the  circuit,  as  well  as  by  the  finger  of  the  operator ; 
and  lines  as  in  figure  3,  or  spaces  in  figure  4,  may  be  made, 
corresponding  to  intervals  of  one  second,  and  thus  the  clock 


264 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 


be  made  to  mark  seconds  of  time.  If,  then,  an  operator 
should  make  contact  at  the  instant  of  the  occurrence  of  any 
phenomenon,  as  that  of  a  star  passing  a  wire,  one  of  these 
spaces  would  he  broken,  as  is  shown  in  figure  7  ;  and  it  is 
easy  to  estimate  the  tenth  of  a  second  at  which  the  contact 
was  made,  and  hundredths  of  a  second  may  be  estimated 
by  the  use  of  a  transparent  scale,  as  in  fig.  9,  whose  length, 
just  equal  to  that  of  one  second  on  the  paper,  being  divided 
into  ten  parts,  and  made  to  cover  the  whole  second,  as  in 
fig.  9,  where  the  register  appears  between  four  seconds  and 
five  seconds,  it  is  seen  at  a  glance  that  the  occurrence 
happened  between  four  seconds  and  seven-tenths,  and  four 
seconds  and  eight-tenths  of  a  second. 

The  apparatus  exhibited  registered  an  unbroken  line,  as 
shown  in  fig.  8,  but  the  principle  of  operation  is  the  same. 
There  may  be  many  different  modes  of  recording.  In 
practice,  the  recording  apparatus  may  be  either  near  to  the 
observer  or  at  a  great  distance )  either  at  a  few  yards  or  at 
a  thousand  miles. 

In  the  former  method,  the  eye  and  ear  are  brought  into 
play  ;  and  in  the  latter,  the  eye  and  hand.  The  question  is, 
whether  there  be  a  closer  connexion  between  the  nerves  of 
the  eye  and  the  ear,  or  between  those  of  the  eye  and  the 
finger.  The  latter  operation  seems  to  be  the  more  simple, 
inasmuch  as  the  observer  has  not  to  listen  to  a  clock,  and 
to  write  down  one  time  whilst  he  is  counting  another. 

The  practicability  of  thus  recording  observations  is  placed 
beyond  a  doubt,  by  such  having  really  been  recorded  in 
America,  at  Washington,  and  other  places,  and  apparently 
with  greater  accuracy  than  by  the  old  method. 

As  before  remarked,  the  recording  surface  may  be  at  a 
great  distance  from  the  observer,  so  that  the  galvanic 
telegraph  is  obviously  applicable  to  the  determination  of 
differences  of  terrestrial  longitudes,  by  connecting  one  sta¬ 
tion  to  another  far  separated  by  means  of  a  wire ;  but  it 
becomes  imperatively  necessary  to  ascertain  whether  the 
tinle  occupied  by  an  electric  current  traversing  the  wire  be 
appreciable  or  not,  and  whether  it  really  passes  from  station 
to  station  in  less  time  than  human  means  can  detect. 
Experiments  to  determine  this  have  been  made  on  the  long 
lines  in  America )  and  the  last  results  I  have  seen  show 


AND  PROCESSES. 


265 


that  the  electric  current  passes  through  a  copper  wire  at  the 
rate  of  about  12,000  miles  in  one  second;  and,  consequently, 
that  the  time  occupied  in  its  progress  is  an  element  to  be 
taken  into  account  in  determining  longitude. 

As  in  some  measure  connected  with  this  subject,  I  may 
mention  that  Mr.  Shepherd  exhibited  an  electro-magnetic 
clock,  which,  as  an  application  of  electro-magnetism,  of 
great  merit  and  promise,  deserves  commendation ;  as  a 
clock,  it  does  not  fall  within  my  prescribed  limits ;  the  sub¬ 
jects  of  horology,  which,  at  first,  were  an  integral  part  of 
Class  X.,  being  subsequently  withdrawn  from  the  adjudica¬ 
tion  of  the  Jurors  of  this  Class. 

The  pendulum  of  this  clock  was  kept  in  motion  by  im¬ 
pulses  received  from  a  remontoir  escapement,  wound  up  by 
an  electro-magnet.  By  the  vibrations  of  this  pendulum, 
the  circuit  of  a  galvanic  battery  was  completed  through  the 
coils  of  the  electro-magnets,  which  were  thus  caused  to  al¬ 
ternately  attract  and  release  their  respective  armatures.  The 
motion  thus  obtained  was  transmitted  to  the  wheels  by  a 
peculiar  form  of  click  and  ratchet  escapement,  invented  by 
Mr.  Shepherd,  by  which  means  the  escape-wheel  was  locked 
and  prevented  from  turning  by  the  action  of  the  wind  upon 
the  hands,  the  minute-hand  being  sixteen  and  the  hour-hand 
twelve  feet  in  length.  The  quantity  of  wire  employed  in 
this  clock  was  25,000  feet :  with  this  great  length,  eight 
pairs  of  Smee’s  batteries,  of  small  size,  immersed  in  half¬ 
pint  jars,  were  found  to  be  sufficient  for  two  months. 

Nautical  Astronomical  Instruments. 

Of  Nautical  Astronomical  Instruments,  the  Exhibition 
did  not  furnish  many  illustrations :  those  in  the  English 
department,  by  Simms,  were  sound  and  well  made;  and  so, 
in  a  less  degree,  were  those  furnished  by  France,  which  were 
mostly  made  after  Simms’s  model.  Belgium  furnished 
several  instruments,  which  were  good  in  all  respects ;  Rus¬ 
sia  sent  the  two  largest  in  the  Exhibition,  both  well  made. 

Of  ordinary  Nautical  Instruments,  the  American  depart¬ 
ment  furnished  a  fine  collection  by  Ericssen,  mostly  of  a 
new  construction;  also  a  very  ingenious  compass  by  St. 
John.  The  peculiarity  of  this  instrument  consists  in  the 
23 


266  PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 

addition  of  two  small  magnets,  moving  freely  upon  fine 
points  attached  to  the  compass-card,  near  its  east  and  west 
extremities. 


To  the  centre  of  each  small  magnet,  and  at  right  angles 
to  it,  is  placed  a  brass  indicator,  which  points  to  the  centre 
of  the  card  when  not  under  the  influence  of  disturbance,  as 
in  fig.  1  •  and  from  the  centre  at  other  times,  as  in  figs.  2 
and  3.  The  deviation  from  the  centre  indicates  the  amount 
of  disturbance,  which,  if  local,  is  shown  by  the  one  of  these 
indicators  pointing  farther  from  the  centre  than  the  other, 
as  in  fig.  3.  The  amount  of  these  deflections  is  measured 
by  semicircular  scales  fixed  over  the  centre  of  the  card. 

Levelling  and  Surveying  Instruments. 

Instruments  for  levelling  and  surveying  were  furnished 
from  England,  France,  and  Belgium  :  generally  well  made, 
but  not  exhibiting  any  novelties  or  excellencies.  Germany 
furnished  several,  all  well  made,  in  which  Breithaupt’s  use¬ 
ful  method  of  covering  the  divisions  with  a  thin  plate  of 
brass,  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  them  from  dirt,  oxida¬ 
tion,  and  mechanical  injury,  was  generally  adopted.  Breit- 
haupt  himself  exhibited  a  level,  with  a  contrivance  for 
greatly  facilitating  its  adjustments,  and  of  great  importance 
while  surveyors  continue  to  assume  that  the  circular  collars 
of  a  level  are  equal.  It  is  described  in  the  Report. 

The  Imperial  Polytechnic  Institution  of  Vienna  exhibited 
some  beautiful  surveying  instruments  constructed  under  the 
direction  of  Professor  Stampfer.  The  greatest  improve¬ 
ment  was  the  means  afforded  for  measuring  a  vertical  angle 
of  8°,  by  which  the  difference  of  altitude  between  two  sta¬ 
tions,  when  greatly  exceeding  the  length  of  the  measuring 


AND  PROCESSES.  267 

staff,  could  be  determined ;  an  improvement  of  great  value 
for  work  in  a  hilly  country. 

Russia  furnished  a  well-made  levelling  instrument,  and 
America  (Burt,  187)  an  instrument  well  adapted  for  survey¬ 
ing  new  countries,  particularly  in  magnetic  districts.  It  is 
applicable  to  the  determination  of  time,  latitude,  and  mag¬ 
netic  declination. 

Mr.  Andrew  Yeates,  of  Brighton  Place,  New  Kent  Road, 
exhibited  a  prismatic  compass,  of  simple  construction, 
adapted  for  taking  both  horizontal  and  vertical  angles,  and 
so  arranged  that  the  former  may  be  taken,  the  instrument 
being  held  in  the  hand, — the  object,  the  hair  in  the  vane, 
and  the  magnetic  bearing,  being  seen  at  once  :  it  is  adapted 
for  fixing  on  a  tripod,  and  a  means  is  afforded  of  repeating 
the  observation.  It  is  also  adapted  for  taking  vertical  angles. 
It  is  independent  of  the  magnetic  needle,  and  can  be  used 
in  districts  abounding  in  iron. 

Optical  Instruments. 

Let  us  now  turn  our  attention  to  optical  instruments. 
Respecting  telescopes,  though  few  in  number,  they  were 
found  to  be  for  the  most  part  good.  France  (Buron,  443) 
furnished  one  whose  object-glass  was  of  rock  crystal,  the 
performance  of  which,  notwithstanding  its  property  of  double 
refraction,  was  found  to  be  very  satisfactory. 

A  new  kind  of  glass  was  exhibited  by  Maes  (France), 
its  base  composed  of  the  oxide  of  zinc  and  borax :  it  was 
extremely  clear  and  free  from  colour,  and  promises  to  be  of 
considerable  use  in  producing  achromatic  object-glasses  of 
a  very  perfect  description. 

The  Exhibition  also  made  known  a  very  fair  attempt  by 
Wray,  United  Kingdom  (No.  309),  to  substitute  a  solid 
substance  instead  of  flint  glass,  which,  as  a  step  out  of  the 
beaten  path,  and  towards  the  possible  revival  of  fluid  object- 
glasses,  is  meritorious. 

As  you  all  know,  crystalline  bodies  affect  light  accord¬ 
ing  to  their  structure,  and  the  transparency  of  such  bodies 
seems  to  depend  upon  their  molecular  arrangement.  Thus, 
if  striae  occur  in  a  disc  of  glass  or  lens  through  which  an 
object  is  viewed,  it  is  distorted  if  these  striae  be  numerous, 
and  the  distortion  is  so  great  that  the  form  of  the  object  is 


268 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 


not  recognisable;  but  if  very  numerous,  it  is  not  visible  at 
all :  the  glass,  ceasing  to  be  transparent,  becoming  opaque, 
though  still  remaining  translucent. 

To  ascertain  the  different  molecular  states  of  the  various 
discs  of  glass  and  object-glasses  exhibited  was,  therefore,  a 
part  of  the  duty  of  the  Jury.  The  modes  adopted  are  de¬ 
tailed  in  the  Report ;  and,  therefore,  I  will  here  but  briefly 
refer  to  the  results. 

The  object-glasses  of  Simms,  which  were  chiefly  of  Eng¬ 
lish  glass,  were  found  to  be  good — the  definition  of  the 
object  becoming  improved  with  the  increase  of  power. 
Those  of  Buron  were  good ;  but  some  exhibited  by  this 
gentleman  were  not  tried,  the  tubes  being  wanting.  A 
small  object-glass,  by  Boss,  was  very  good ;  but  in  his  large 
equatoreal  there  was  none.  The  discs  of  glass  furnished  by 
Maes  (France ),  and  Daguet  (Switzerland),  were  very  good; 
as  upon  the  whole  was  the  noble  piece  of  glass  exhibited 
by  Chance,  which  is  no  less  than  twenty-nine  inches  in 
diameter,  and  weighs  200  pounds;  and  I  do  hope  that  the 
same  success  will  attend  the  obtaining  its  achromatic  com¬ 
panion,  and  that  the  two  lenses  may  be  worked  into  an 
object-glass.  I  understand,  however,  that  Messrs.  Chance 
and  Co.  are  not  willing  to  incur  the  whole  risk  of  the  pecu¬ 
niary  loss  which  would  follow  should  not  the  high  promise 
now  held  out  be  fulfilled ;  let  us  hope,  however,  that  no 
impediment  will  delay  the  adaptation  of  these  lenses  to  a 
telescope. 

It  is  pleasing  to  find,  that  whilst  these  exertions  are  being 
made  for  the  improvement  of  object-glasses,  the  eye-piece 
also  is  receiving  some  attention.  The  Rev.  J.  B.  Reade 
exhibited  two,  which  he  terms  solid  eye-pieces,  from  the 
component  parts  being  cemented  together.  As  one  was  a 
little  over  corrected,  and  the  other  a  little  under  corrected, 
it  is  plainly  possible  for  a  perfect  achromatic  eye-piece  to  be 
constructed  on  this  principle.  Mr.  Reade  was  the  only  ex¬ 
hibitor  of  improved  eye  pieces;  and  it  is  the  more  creditable 
to  him,  inasmuch  as  it  is  desirable  that  the  improvement  of 
both  eye-piece  and  object-glass  should  march  hand  in  hand, 
and  that  many  gentlemen  are  turning  their  attention  to  the 
former,  but  very  few  to  the  latter. 

These  are  some  of  the  first-fruits  of  the  removal  of  the 


AND  PROCESSES. 


269 


tax  on  glass,  that  great  obstacle  to  the  improvement  of  tele¬ 
scopes  in  this  country,  which  prevented  all  attempts  to  pro¬ 
duce  glass  adapted  to  the  construction  of  large  achromatic 
glasses,  and  compelled  us  to  purchase  from  abroad  those  we 
needed  at  an  enormous  price.  The  Exhibition  satisfactorily 
proves  that,  at  all  events,  we  shall  soon  equal  both  the  far- 
famed  works  of  Munich  and  Paris ;  and  let  us  hope  in  fair 
rivalry  to  excel  them. 

The  microscope,  by  the  rapid  advance  in  microscopic  in¬ 
vestigations  within  the  last  few  years,  has  been  enabled  to 
vie  in  importance  almost  with  the  telescope.  Since  the  in¬ 
troduction  of  achromatic  combinations,  physiological  inves¬ 
tigations  have  proceeded  so  rapidly,  and  our  knowledge  has 
increased  so  greatly  upon  animal  and  minute  anatomy,  that 
it  was  most  gratifying  to  find  so  many  superior  instruments 
in  the  Exhibition.  Those  exhibited  by  Ross,  and  Smith 
and  Beck,  were  beautiful  instruments,  and  far  exceeded  any 
that  were  exhibited  in  the  Foreign  Section  ;  in  which,  that 
of  Natchet  was  decidedly  the  best.  The  British  micro¬ 
scopes  were  distinguished  by  the  great  amount  of  light 
obtained,  the  large  aDgle  of  aperture,  and  consequent  fine 
definition;  also  by  the  large,  flat,  and  perfectly  defined 
field. 

Perhaps  I  may  be  permitted  to  mention  here  some  few 
of  the  applications  of  the  microscope.  In  a  geological  point 
of  view,  it  displays  its  almost  magical  powers,  not  only  in 
the  discovering  of  many  strata  of  considerable  thickness, 
found  by  its  means  to  be  entirely  composed  of  infusorial 
remains,  too  small  for  the  natural  eye  to  distinguish  their 
exquisite  beauty  of  form  and  structure,  but  it  also  enables 
us  to  determine  to  what  class  of  animals  any  fragment  of 
a  bone,  however  small,  belongs. 

Any  one  possessed  of  a  microscope  can  easily  detect  any 
adulteration  in  articles  they  purchase,  by  knowing  the  ap¬ 
pearance  of  different  articles  when  separate :  for  instance, 
in  flour  and  bread,  a  microscopist  can  detect  whether  any 
other  grain  than  that  of  wheat  has  been  mixed  with  it. 

The  microscope  and  its  applications  (a  beautiful  series 
illustrative  of  which  was  exhibited  by  Leonard)  are  daily 
increasing  in  importance;  and  it  is  now  indispensable  to 
members  of  the  medical  profession. 


270 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 


There  were  two  lighthouses  exhibited,  both  entirely  of 
glass,  the  one  by  Chance,  and  the  other  by  Wilkins;  both 
were  furnished  with  large  Argand  lamps,  lenses,  and  reflect¬ 
ing  prisms.  As  the  object  of  lighthouses  is  to  transmit  all 
the  rays  proceeding  from  the  light  in  an  horizontal  direc¬ 
tion,  the  reflecting  prisms  above  and  below  the  light  were 
so  placed,  that  the  incident  rays  on  their  second  surface  fell 
so  obliquely,  that  they  were  totally  reflected  horizontally: 
thus  those  rays  which  would  have  illumined  the  sky  and 
the  waters  of  the  ocean  were  made  available  to  increase  the 
equatoreal  belt  of  light;  the  substitution  of  reflecting  prisms 
will,  doubtless,  supersede  the  use  of  metallic  reflectors  in 
lighthouses  generally. 

Of  spectacles,  a  large  number  were  exhibited,  distin¬ 
guished  only  in  the  British  portion  for  their  various  mount¬ 
ings,  without  any  attempt  for  the  improvement  of  the  lenses 
themselves,  as  applicable  to  the  peculiarities  of  vision.  I 
beg  here  to  be  clearly  understood,  that  I  do  not  consider 
either  shortsightedness,  or  the  flattening  of  the  eye  by  age, 
as  peculiar.  To  meet  such  ordinary  states  of  the  eye,  the 
glasses  exhibited  were  ample;  but  I  consider  a  malforma¬ 
tion  of  the  eyes,  such  that  one  eye  would  require  one  form 
of  lens,  and  the  other  eye  another  form  of  lens,  as  peculiar. 
At  the  time  of  the  Exhibition,  I  did  not  know  one  optician 
in  London  to  whom  I  could  refer  any  one  so  afflicted  with 
any  chance  of  relief :  the  Exhibition  did  not  make  such 
person  known  in  England  ;  but  it  has  given  the  Jury  an 
opportunity  of  making  the  want  known,  and  gladly  I  avail 
myself  of  this  opportunity  to  dwell  upon  it.  I  speak  this 
from  experience,  and  my  personal  acquaintance  with  gentle¬ 
men  afflicted  with  peculiarity  of  vision,  who  in  London  have 
found  no  relief.  Since  the  Exhibition,  I  have  learnt  that 
Simms  pays  some  attention  to  these  points.  France  fur¬ 
nished  one  exhibitor,  Henri,  who  seems  to  have  paid  much 
attention  to  optical  science  and  its  application.  I  expect 
one  of  the  good  results  of  the  Exhibition  will  be  an  endea¬ 
vour,  on  the  part  of  some  opticians  in  England,  to  meet 
this  want. 

Of  instruments  connected  with  Physical  Optics  there  were 
very  few ;  indeed  philosophical  instruments  of  this  class 
were  quite  wanting  in  the  British  portion.  France  furnished 


AND  PROCESSES. 


271 


a  beautiful  series,  including  stereoscopes,  polarimeters,  sac- 
cbarometers,  haloscopes,  &c.,  as  exhibited  by  Soleil.  Per¬ 
haps  the  most  useful  of  these  instruments  was  the  saceha- 
rometer.  Light,  as  you  are  aware,  when  polarized  appears 
to  be  transmitted  by  undulations  in  planes,  and  not  at  all  in 
planes  situated  at  right  angles  to  them.  In  some  bodies, 
each  of  the  colours  composing  white  light  is  not  polarized  in 
the  same  plane  as  in  ordinary  polarization,  but  the  plane 
for  each  is  slightly  turned  round,  so  that  the  whole  is  spread 
out :  this  circular  polarization  has  been  beautifully  applied 
to  chemistry,  and  made  a  test  in  the  case  of  saccharine  fer¬ 
mentation  of  the  point  to  which  it  has  reached  and  of  the 
quantity  of  sugar  formed.  Hence  this  change  of  direction 
of  the  polarizing  plane  is  of  great  practical  value,  and  it 
oueht  to  supersede  the  old  method  by  the  use  of  the  ordi¬ 
nary  saccharometer,.  That  exhibited  by  Soleil  was  the  only 
one,  though  many  of  the  ordinary  kind  were  exhibited  in 
the  British  section. 

Meteorological  Instruments. 

There  were  a  large  number  of  barometers,  thermometers, 
and  other  instruments  intended  for  meteorological  observa¬ 
tions,  but  the  greater  part  were  of  a  very  ordinary  kind,  and 
unsuited  to  the  work  intended. 

Respecting  thermometers  (for  the  purpose  of  forming  a 
correct  estimate  of  those  exhibited),  let  me  impress  upon 
you  that  a  good  and  efficient  instrument  must  be  either 
identical  in  its  readings  with  an  acknowledged  standard,  or 
its  amount  of  deviation  correctly  ascertained,  and  applied  in 
its  use;  this  involves  a  necessity  for  the  possession  of  a 
standard  of  undoubted  accuracy,  the  nearest  approach  to 
which  were  the  thermometers  made  by  the  Rev.  R.  Sheep¬ 
shanks,  two  of  which,  exhibited  by  Simms,  may  be  consi¬ 
dered  as  the  most  accurate  in  this  country.  That  kind  of 
thermometer  most  easily  rendered  identical  in  its  readings, 
and  most  amenable  to  correction,  is  of  slender  bore,  with 
small  bulb,  and  graduated  on  the  stems  itself;  by  such  a 
construction  the  amount  of  error  arising  from  want  of  even¬ 
ness  in  the  bore  of  the  tube,  in  the  cutting  of  the  divisions, 
or  from  a  want  of  accuracy  in  the  determination  of  the  zero 


272 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 


points,  may  be  determined,  and  when  applied  will  render 
the  instrument  perfectly  useful  and  trustworthy.  These 
corrections,  when  once  determined  for  such  instruments, 
will  remain  constant ;  but  no  system  of  correction  can 
restore  accuracy  to  the  readings  of  thermometers  whose 
scales  are  ivory.  Those  of  box-wood,  a  material  in  gene¬ 
ral  use  for  maximum  thermometers,  require  corrections 
which  can  be  determined  only  by  frequent  comparisons 
with  a  thermometer  whose  errors  are  known,  the  index 
errors  of  such  instruments  being  found  to  vary  from  day 
to  day. 

Newman  exhibited  his  well-known  set  of  thermometers 
without  alteration ;  but  the  conditions  of  good  thermometers 
were  best  fulfilled  in  England  by  Messrs.  Negretti  and  Zam- 
bra,  and  in  France  by  Fastre. 

Several  carefully-made  instruments  wTere  forwarded  by 
Germany. 

In  maximum  and  minimum  thermometers  there  was 
nothing  new  exhibited,  although  great  need  has  long  existed 
for  an  effective  maximum  thermometer. 

Thanks  to  the  Exhibition,  however,  this  want  has  since 
been  supplied.  One  of  the  good  working  parts  of  the  Ex¬ 
hibition  was  the  bringing  together  the  jurors  and  the  exhi¬ 
bitors,  and  the  making  each  acquainted  with  the  others’ 
wants.  The  jurors,  in  the  performance  of  their  duties, 
dwelt  upon  the  wants  of  science,  and  suggested  in  some 
cases  how  they  might  be  supplied;  and  in  this  case  I  urged 
upon  the  exhibitors  the  great  necessity  of  a  new  instrument 
to  supersede  the  one  now  in  use  for  the  determination  of 
maximum  temperatures,  and  suggested  that  such  might  be 
constructed,  by  introducing  into  the  tube  a  piece  of  enamel 
or  porcelain,  its  end  towards  the  mercury  terminated  in  a 
blunt  point,  or  otherwise,  as  experiment  might  determine ; 
a  form  of  instrument  which  has  since  been  successfully 
achieved  by  Barrow  of  Oxenden  Street,  and  proved  to  be  a 
great  advance  upon  the  old  method,  particularly  for  sun 
observations.  But  Messrs.  Negretti  and  Zambra  have  in¬ 
vented  another,  of  a  better  kind ;  a  small  piece  of  glass  is 
inserted  near  the  bulb  and  within  the  tube,  which  it  nearly 
fills :  on  an  increase  of  temperature,  the  mercury  passes 
this  piece  of  glass,  but  on  a  decrease  of  heat,  not  being  able 


AND  PROCESSES. 


273 


to  repass,  it  remains  in  the  tube,  and  thus  indicates  the 
maximum  temperature.  After  reading  it  is  easily  adjusted. 
Four  of  these  instruments  I  have  had  at  work  for  upwards 
of  a  month,  two  in  ordinary  observations,  and  two  subjected 
to  severe  tests,  and  all  have  answered  admirably.  Hitherto 
every  series  of  meteorological  observations  has  been  more  or 
less  broken  by  the  frequent  plunging  of  the  steel  index  into 
the  mercury,  or  becoming  otherwise  deranged.  Messrs. 
Negretti  and  Zambra  have  in  their  maximum  thermometer 
supplied  a  want  long  felt. 

Newman  exhibited  his  well-known  barometers,  the  tubes 
of  which  wmre  filled  and  boiled  under  a  diminished  atmos¬ 
pheric  pressure.  Mr.  Newman  remarks,  that  he  has  always 
found  that  mercury  highly  heated  in  glass  tubes  becomes 
oxidized,  and  also,  that  all  tubes  boiled  under  atmospheric 
pressure  are  foul.  (I  may  observe  that  my  experience  has 
not  led  me  to  the  same  conclusion.) 

Orchard  exhibited  a  barometer  very  similar  indeed  to 
Newman’s;  but  with  the  addition  of  a  thermometer  placed 
in  front  of  the  instrument,  whose  bulb  was  of  the  same  di¬ 
mensions  as  that  of  the  tube. 

G-riffiths  exhibited  a  barometer  furnished  with  a  crook 
on  the  top  to  trap  any  air  which  might  be  above  the 
mercury,  for  the  purpose  of  insuring  a  vacuum.  Ne¬ 
gretti  and  Zambra  also  exhibited  a  barometer  with  an  air- 
trap  glass  cistern,  with  the  intention  of  preventing  the 
entrance  of  the  air :  the  mercury  in  neither  of  these  in¬ 
struments  was  boiled,  an  operation  that  I  consider  absolutely 
necessary. 

Harris  and  Son  exhibited  several  self-compensating  baro¬ 
meters,  for  the  approximate  determination  of  the  atmos¬ 
pheric  pressure.  They  are  about  one  foot  in  length,  and 
consist  of  two  reservoirs  connected  by  a  bent  tube,  the  one 
filled  with  mercury,  and  the  other  with  gas;  the  adjacent 
portions  of  the  tube  being  also  filled  with  mercury  and  gas. 
There  is  also  an  arrangement  for  the  approximate  correc¬ 
tion  for  the  expansion  of  the  gas  from  heat.  An  instrument 
upon  this  principle,  made  by  Ronchetti,  was  tried  by  me 
some  years  since,  and  was  found  to  give  tolerably  approxi¬ 
mate  readings  for  a  time,  that  is,  to  within  01  of  an  inch 
either  way,  but  ultimately  failed  entirely.  Instruments  of 


274 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 


this  kind  are  of  little  or  no  value.  Brown  exhibited  two 
barometers,  at  the  price  of  10s.  6<7.  each ;  one  such,  upon 
trial,  I  found  to  act  well :  undoubtedly  they  were  the 
cheapest  in  the  Exhibition,  and  were  better  than  any  of  the 
ordinary  barometers  exhibited. 

Yeates,  of  Dublin,  exhibited  several  barometers,  fur¬ 
nished  with  a  ready  means  of  cleansing  the  surface  of  the 
mercury  in  the  cistern. 

M.  Bourdon  (France),  exhibited  barometers  of  an  origi¬ 
nal  construction,  based  upon  the  tendency  possessed  by  a 
coiled  and  exhausted  tube  of  thin  metal  to  contract  or  elon¬ 
gate  when  subjected  to  variations  of  pressure.  A  description 
of  the  method  of  constructing  one  of  these  little  instruments 
may  not  be  uninteresting  to  you. 

The  form  of  tube  adopted  by  M.  Bourdon  is  not  circular, 
but  a  little  flattened  and  curved  inwards,  as  shown  in  the 


Fig.  3. 


Fig- 1. 


Fig  2. 


B 


c 


Fig.  4. 


F 


E 


annexed  cut.  The  tube  in  use  is  quite  exhausted  of  air,  and 
hermetically  sealed  at  both  ends,  and  coiled  in  the  form 


AND  PROCESSES. 


275 


shown  in  the  second  figure.  As  the  pressure  from  without 
increases  upon  the  tube,  it  exhibits  a  tendency  to  exchange 
its  original  form  for  that  shown  in  the  third  figure.  If  the 
tube  be  sufficiently  elastic,  it  resumes  its  former  figure  as 
soon  as  the  pressure  is  withdrawn,  and  the  variations  of 
curvature  attendant  upon  the  increased  or  diminished  pres¬ 
sure,  communicated  to-  an  index  moving  over  a  dial-face, 
giving  the  readings  of  the  barometer.  According  to  M. 
Bourdon’s  observations  it  would  appear  that  the  amount  of 
contraction  or  expansion  is  proportionate  to  the  sustained 
pressure ;  thus,  if  the  two  extremities  of  the  tube  become 
separated  by  the  space  of  one  inch  for  a  pressure  of  twenty 
pounds  upon  the  square  inch,  they  will  separate  by  a  space 
equal  to  two  inches  for  one  of  ten  pounds’  pressure,  and  so 
on  :  consequently  the  graduations  on  the  dial-plate  are 
equal  throughout  the  scale.  M.  Bourdon  considers  that  the 
same  action  which  brings  together  each  of  the  ends  of  an 
arc,  when  the  chord  is  bent  either  in  pulliug, — as  in  fig.  1, 
or  in  pressing  towards  the  arc, — as  in  fig.  2,  is  the  same 
action  as  that  which  causes  in  the  metal  tube  the  variations 
of  figure  consequent  upon  different  degrees  of  pressure; 
and  he  observes,  that  by  diminishing  the  pressure  upon  the 
chord  at  A  it  will  gradually  relax,  and  both  arc  and  chord 
assume  the  form  of  fig.  3, — an  action  corresponding  in  its 
effects  with  that  produced  by  the  withdrawal  of  the  atmos¬ 
pheric  pressure,  which  suffers  the  tube  to  re-assume  the 
figure  in  which  it  was  originally  coiled.  In  reference  to  its 
amount,  M.  Bourdon  observes,  that  if  the  pressure  on  the 
chord  at  A,  fig.  2,  be  increased  until  it  touch  the  arc  of  the 
circle  at  D,  fig.  4,  the  angle  at  D  is  rendered  more  acute,  and 
the  two  ends  of  the  arc  necessarily  convergent,  the  amount 
of  convergence,  being  at  all  times  in  proportion  to  the  angle 
formed  by  the  two  chords  of  the  arc,  the  curve  of  the  arc 
being  modified  in  the  same  proportion.  An  effect  of  the 
same  kind  is  produced  by  pressing  the  chord  simultaneously 
on  many  points  towards  the  arc,  as  in  fig.  4,  the  withdrawal 
of  pressure  being  accompanied  by  the  same  return  to  the 
original  figure;  and  M.  Bourdon  considers  that  the  same 
action  is  induced  by  the  external  air,  which  maintains  a 
simultaneous  pressure  on  every  part  of  the  curve.  These 
observations  of  M.  Bourdon  in  connexion  with  the  princi 


276 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 


pies  which  he  has  successfully  applied,  seem  to  me  deserving 
of  some  consideration.  The  graduations  of  the  instrument 
are  determined  by  subjecting  it  to  artificial  variations  of 
pressure  in  connexion  with  a  standard  mercurial  barometer, 
by  which  means  the  points  of  coincidence  are  correctly  as¬ 
certained  and  laid  down,  I  have  not  had  any  experience  of 
the  working  of  these  barometers,  and  do  not  expect  that 
they  are  applicable  to  meteorological  observations ;  but  I 
have  no  doubt  that  their  action  as  steam-pressure  gauges  is 
admirable.  Many  of  these  last  were  exhibited  by  M.  Bour¬ 
don,  in  some  of  which  the  converse  of  the  action  you  have 
just  perceived  was  obtained  by  filling  the  tube  with  a  gas 
or  liquid,  in  which  case  external  pressure  caused  an  expan¬ 
sion  or  elongation,  in  opposition  to  the  contraction  you  have 
now  witnessed. 

The  collection  of  Meteorological  Instruments  in  the  Ex¬ 
hibition  would  lead  us  to  the  conclusion  that  the  conditions 
of  good  instruments  are  better  understood  and  fulfilled  by 
makers  abroad  than  at  home.  That  this  will  speedily  cease 
to  be  the  case,  I  feel  assured.  The  opportunity  offered  to 
the  members  of  the  Jury  of  expressing  their  disapprobation 
to  the  makers,  added  to  the  increasing  demand  for  good  in¬ 
struments,  and  to  the  fact  of  the  public  becoming  acquainted 
with  the  deficiencies  of  those  usually  furnished  to  them, 
will  enforce  a  demand  for  instruments  better  worthy  the 
investment  of  their  time  and  money;  and  when  we  consider 
how  worse  than  useless  is  the  labour  of  the  meteorologist 
when  based  upon  bad  or  insufficient  instruments,  and  how 
by  these  means  he  becomes  instrumental  to  the  propagation 
of  error, — this  circumstance  alone  demands  increased  care 
in  the  selection  of  those  used.  That  the  want  of  good  in¬ 
struments  is  experienced  I  can  myself  testify.  For  years  I 
have  pursued  the  subject  of  meteorology,  and  have  long 
been  convinced  that  a  widely-spread  and  universal  system 
of  simultaneous  observation,  uniformly  reduced,  must  be 
the  groundwork  of  its  establishment  as  a  science.  For  the 
sake  of  this  establishment,  I,  by  my  individual  and  unas¬ 
sisted  exertions,  six  years  ago,  reduced  my  system  to  prac¬ 
tice,  and  introducing  it  first  among  the  meteorological 
observers,  contributors  to  the  Reports  of  the  Ptegistrar- 
General,  in  a  short  time  perceived  with  satisfaction  some  of 


AND  PROCESSES. 


277 


the  good  results  upon  a  limited  scale.  The  observations 
thus  made  and  reduced  were  published  quarterly  in  the  Re¬ 
ports  of  the  Registrar-General  at  that  time.  Since  then  I 
have  been  gradually,  and  with  success,  increasing  the  num¬ 
ber  of  my  observers,  and  have  now  established  upwards  of 
fifty  meteorological  stations  in  different  parts  of  the  country, 
all  of  which  contribute  observations  made  and  reduced  upon 
my  own  system.  The  publication  of  these  Quarterly  Re¬ 
ports,  giving  the  combined  results,  has  mainly  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  present  system  of  meteorology.  The 
ready  co-operation  I  have  met  with  from  gentlemen  engaged 
in  its  pursuit  has  convinced  me  that  they  were  only  too  glad 
to  have  direction  given  to  their  work,  whilst  the  ready  en¬ 
gagement  of  other  gentlemen  in  this  pursuit  is  equally  con¬ 
vincing  that  they  had  waited  only  for  a  clear  perception  of 
its  utility.  I  now  come  to  that  which  had  nearly  caused 
the  subversion  of  my  scheme — the  difficulty  of  obtaining 
good  instruments  at  a  fair  and  moderate  price.  To  remedy 
this  evil,  to  any  great  extent,  was  not  in  my  power.  Of 
the  means  possessed  by  me,  I,  however,  availed  myself,  and 
have  caused  the  construction  of  many  barometers  and  ther¬ 
mometers  superior  to  those  previously  in  use.  That  I  have 
been  enabled  to  do  this,  is  owing  to  the  co-operation  of  Mr. 
Barrow,  who,  anxious  for  the  furtherance  of  truth,  complied 
with  my  request,  and  devoted  his  time  and  talents  to  the 
advancement  of  my  views.  All  the  barometers,  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  thermometers,  scattered  among  my  corps 
of  observers,  have  been  made  under  my  direction  by  him, 
and  constitute,  with  few  exceptions,  the  most  efficient  in¬ 
struments  at  their  command. 

The  establishment  of  my  system  has  been  followed,  first, 
by  the  Ordnance  furnishing  themselves  with  twenty  sets 
of  instruments,  to  plant  twenty  meteorological  observatories 
at  their  stations,  and  next  by  twenty  sets  which  are  now 
being  prepared  by  Col.  Sykes  for  as  many  observatories  in 
India. 

The  Exhibition  may  be  a  means  of  contributing  to  the 
improvement  of  meteorological  instruments  generally. 

The  public  will  have  been  informed  of  those  localities 
where  the  best  instruments  may  be  procured,  and  where, 
without  doubt,  they  will  enforce  the  greatest  demand.  If 
21 


278 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 


to  the  good  results  of  the  Exhibition,  as  applied  to  meteoro¬ 
logical  science,  I  may  add  my  own  personal  influence,  I 
earnestly  exhort  all  gentlemen,  either  designing  to  com¬ 
mence,  or  already  engaged  in  meteorological  research,  to 
use  instruments  such  only  as  I  h|ve  described  as  efficient, 
or  abandon  the  pursuit  entirely. 

I  will  here  introduce  some  remarks,  received  in  a  letter, 
a  few  days  ago,  from  one  of  my  colleagues,  Professor 
Miller,  and  which  bear  closely  upon  the  point  in  question. 
“  Many  observers  have  thrown  away  years  in  using  bad 
instruments,  or  instruments  unsuited  to  their  particular 
object,  not  knowing  the  existence  of  instruments  of  a  better 
construction,  or  better  suited  to  the  objects  they  had  in 
view.  I  will  begin  with  meteorology.  Many  observers  use 
costly  thermometers  with  brass  scales,  the  errors  of  which 
cannot  accurately  be  found,  or  with  wrong  scales,  the  error 
of  which  is  variable;  for  want  of  knowing  the  existence  of 
cheap  thermometers,  with  the  scales  etched  with  hydro¬ 
fluoric  acid,  on  the  tube  itself,  in  which  the  error  can  be 
determined  with  the  greatest  accuracy,  and  of  which  we  had 
such  beautiful  examples,  exhibited  by  Simms,  Negretti, 
Fastre,  and  perhaps  others. 

“  Respecting  barometers,  Show  discovered  a  remarkable 
law  between  latitude  and  barometric  pressure ;  but  nearly 
every  one  of  the  English  observations  was  doubtful,  on  ac¬ 
count  of  the  badness  of  instruments  and  neglect  of  data  for 
reducing  the  observations,  many  of  the  observers  having 
used  worthless  instruments,  in  ignoi'ance  that  better  were 
in  existence.  I  tried  to  verify  this  law  of  Schow’s  by  using 
various  English  observations. 

“  Six  years  observations  in  the  Mediterranean,  by  Capt. 
Smyth,  I  reduced  as  far  as  I  could;  but  the  labour  was 
thrown  away,  because  the  instruments  did  not  admit  of 
determining  the  errors  :  that  is,  the  error  was  not  constant. 

“  Professor  Chevallier,  of  Durham,  had  observed  with 
a  high-priced  barometer  for  nine  years,  and  that  an  obser¬ 
vation  should  not  be  lost,  had  instructed  the  ladies  of  his 
family  to  observe.  He  tried  to  obtain  the  constant  error  by 
comparison  with  a  barometer  of  my  own,  of  Bunton’s  con¬ 
struction.  The  error  was  extremely  variable;  he  anato¬ 
mized  his  barometer,  and  found  a  cistern  constructed  of 


AND  PROCESSES.  279 

such  materials  that  the  error  mainly  depended  on  the  hy- 
grometric  state  of  the  atmosphere 

“  Observations  made  at  Madras,  for  twenty-three  years, 
by  Mr.  Croldingham,  and  printed  in  the  East  India  Com¬ 
pany’s  costly  volume,  are,  for  the  same  reasons,  worth  less 
than  nothing.  Lieutenant  Sullivan,  B.N.,  made  numerous 
observations  at  the  Falkland  Islands,  which,  for  the  same 
reasons,  are  worthless.  The  same  observation  applies  to 
Captain  Fitzroy’s  observations  at  an  important  meteorolo¬ 
gical  station — the  neighbourhood  of  Cape  Horn. 

“  Visiters  to  the  Exhibition  have  now  seen  a  beautiful 
barometer,  that  gives  absolute  results;  (Griffiths’)  ba¬ 
rometer,  with  small  constant  errors;  (Newman’s,  Orchard’s) 
barometer,  cheap,  with  a  constant  error,  and  not  large.  It 
is  to  be  hoped,  that  after  the  Exhibition  no  observer  will 
use,  or  artist  make,  a  thermometer  or  barometer,  except  of 
the  improved  construction  described  above.  Captain  Basil 
Hall  objected  to  the  reflecting  circle  on  account  of  the 
trouble  of  reading  more  than  one  vernier.  Professor  Smyth 
very  lately  complained  of  the  difficulty  of  reading  the  vernier 
of  a  sextant,  because  the  verniers  and  limb  are  not  in  the 
same  plane.  Would  any  body  complain  of  the  difficulty  of 
reading  verniers  who  had  seen  Ertel’s  universal  instrument, 
Beaulieu’s  circle,  Beaulieu’s  beautiful  sextant,  the  Austrian 
Miner’s  theodolite,  Breithaupt’s  theodolite,  Froment’s  theo¬ 
dolite  ? 

u  The  Austrian  levels  and  theodolites  give  a  surveyor 
great  advantage  in  increased  accuracy,  great  saving  of  time, 
and  of  one  assistant  in  the  use  of  the  chain ;  in  colonies 
where  labour  is  scarce,  in  places  where  the  ground  is  difficult, 
and  intersected  by  hedges  and  ditches,  their  advantages  are 
inestimable.  In  marine  surveying,  much  time  would  be 
saved  by  the  use  of  Ertel’s  universal  instrument,  instead  of 
the  clumsy  transits  provided  by  the  Admiralty.  Time  in 
such  cases  must  be  measured  by  the  cost  of  maintaining  a 
ship’s  crew.  One  instrument  and  one  observer  can  with  it 
determine  time  and  latitude,  and  make  any  triangulites  for 
surveying  with  more  facility  on  account  of  the  direction  in 
which  the  observer  looks,  than  with  any  other  instrument 
or  instruments. 

“  Would  any  observer  about  to  fit  up  an  observatory  order 


280 


PHILOSOPHICAL  IN STRU MEN T S 


any  meridian  instrument  except  such  as  Simms  exhibited  ? 
But  for  the  Exhibition,  a  quarter  of  a  century  might  have 
elapsed  before  the  peculiarities  of  the  construction  of  that 
meridian  circle  became  generally  known;  even  that  might, 
in  my  opinion,  be  improved  by  adopting  Steinheil’s  disc  of 
glass  for  the  circle. 

“  A  chemist  who  has  seen  Wollaston’s  contrivance  for 
steadying  the  beam  of  a  balance  (Dover’s  balance,  Nissen’s 
balance)  will  not  be  willing  to  put  up  with  the  cumbrous 
machinery  used  for  that  purpose  in  many  of  the  foreign 
balances.  Neither  will  he  like  to  use  knife  edges  with  two 
small  agate  planes,  instead  of  a  single  long  one  in  the  mid¬ 
dle,  or  curved  instead  of  plane  supports  for  the  pans. 

“  English  balance-makers  may  also  take  a  lesson  from  the 
foreigners,  and  get  rid  of  the  too  much  adjustment  of  many 
of  our  balances.  The  great  excellence  of  L.  Oerting’s  ba¬ 
lances  appears  to  be  in  a  great  measure  due  to  the  unpreju- 
dPed  manner  in  which  he  adopted  that  which  was  really 
good  in  the  English  balances,  and  to  its  skilful  combination 
with  the  good  points  of  the  instruments  with  which  he  was 
acquainted  before  he  came  to  England. 

<c  Many  persons  endeavour  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  the 
processes  of  research  in  natural  philosophy  and  astronomy 
by  reading  books  and  listening  to  oral  communications;  yet 
their  ideas  remain  obscure  in  consequence  of  their  not  being 
able  to  see  the  instruments  with  which  those  researches  are 
carried  on  :  for  in  this  country  there  are  no  complete  collec¬ 
tions  of  instruments  like  those  of  the  Conservatoire  des 
Arts  ct  Metiers  at  Paris,  and  the  collections  to  be  found  in 
the  Physikalisclie  Kahine.t  of  the  smallest  German  univer¬ 
sity.  This  grievous  deficiency  is  in  some  degree  remedied 
by  the  exhibition  of  Class  X.  For  instance,  many  people 
have  read  of  telescopes  that  followed  the  stars,  keeping  a 
star  in  the  middle  of  the  field  as  if  a  fixed  object  on  land. 
How  few  have  ever  had  a  chance  of  seeing  such  a  telescope  ! 
For  the  work  of  an  observatory  must  not  be  interrupted  for 
the  sake  of  gratifying  the  most  laudable  curiosity.  They 
are  not  places  of  education  for  the  public.  Now,  the  Ex¬ 
hibition  had  two  such  telescopes:  that  by  Simms,  especially 
illustrating  the  adaptation  of  the  polar  axis  to  the  latitude 
of  the  place  where  it  was  to  be  used.  But  few  people  can 


AND  PROCESSES. 


281 


sec  transit  instruments  and  meridian  circles,  though  many 
read  of  them.  Many  have  read  of  extensive  surveys  and 
of  measurements  of  arcs  of  meridians,  of  dimensions  of  the 
solar  system,  and  the  distance  of  the  nearest  stars.  Elliott’s 
altitude  and  azimuth  instrument  represents  the  form  of  the 
instrument  irsed  in  the  triangulation  of  the  English  sur¬ 
veys  ;  Ertel’s  is  the  exact  instrument  used  by  Struve  in  the 
arc  that  is  to  extend  from  the  North  Cape  to  Crete.  There 
were  the  compensated  bars  for  measuring  the  bases  by  Eng¬ 
lish  observers,  and  specimens  of  linear  measure  to  which 
these  bars  could  be  referred,  of  both  kinds,  d  bouts  and  d 
traits  (Bessel’s  and  Sheepshanks’s) ;  both  the  best  of  their 
kind.  Even  ordinary  surveying  instruments  are  unknown 
to  a  great  part  of  the  class  of  persons  I  allude  to.  Few 
people  have  an  opportunity  of  seeing  a  moderately  good 
balance.  The  Exhibition  contained  balances  of  the  most 
accurate  construction,  ‘  for  weights  from  the  smallest  up  to 
60  pounds.’  ” 

PnOTOGRAPIIY. 

The  collection  of  Photographs  in  the  Exhibition  was  well 
calculated  to  show  the  active  and  experimental  nature  of  the 
attempts  being  made  to  improve  its  processes, — an  activity 
less  observable  throughout  the  Foreign  side  of  the  collec¬ 
tion,  which  established  fewer  claims  to  excellence,  on  the 
ground  of  the  novelty  of  the  processes  adopted,  than  were 
established  on  the  British  side.  This  activity  was  shown 
in  part  (to  confine  ourselves  at  first  to  daguerreotypes)  in  the 
works  of  Claudet,  who  exhibited  applications  of  his  focime- 
ter;  illustrations  of  the  effects  of  the  spectrum  on  the  da¬ 
guerreotype  plate,  as  prepared  by  him ;  and  pictures  which, 
notwithstanding  the  loss  of  light  necessary  for  the  operation, 
were  rendered  non-inverting :  in  those  of  Mayall,  who  ex¬ 
hibited  the  crayon  daguerreotype,  produced  by  a  process  of 
his  own;  Beard,  rvho  exhibited  enamelled  daguerreotypes, 
in  which  the  permanence  of  the  picture  was  secured  by  a 
lacquer;  in  the  pictures  of  Tyree,  who  claimed  the  adoption 
of  a  peculiar  process  of  his  own ;  and  various  others,  which 
it  would  be  tedious  to  enumerate. 

The  daguerreotypes  exhibited  by  America,  though  not 
distinguished  by  experimental  attempts  at  improvement  of 
24  * 


282 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 


processes,  were  remarkable  as  illustrations  of  the  excellence 
of  those  which  had  been  employed. 

Those  of  France  were  fewer  in  number  than  might  have 
been  expected  from  the  country  which  had  given  birth  to 
the  founder  of  the  art,  and  were  indicative  of  no  superiority, 
except  in  the  use  of  colour,  over  those  in  the  British  de¬ 
partment;  and  were  decidedly  inferior  to  those  of  America. 
I  may  here  observe,  that  the  characteristics  of  the  contents 
of  the  collections  severally  furnished  by  the  United  King¬ 
dom,  America,  and  France,  were  remarkably  distinct :  those 
of  France  were  very  bright,  sunny,  and  not  entirely  divested 
of  glare  ;  those  of  America,  which  consisted  almost  entirely 
of  portraits,  were  distinguished  by  a  depth  and  harmony  of 
tone  to  which  those  of  France  were  totally  a  stranger,  and, 
equally  removed  from  violent  contrasts  and  from  insipidity, 
exhibited  a  degree  of  truth  and  reality  only  to  be  obtained 
by  a  close  agreement  with  the  rules  of  art.  The  character¬ 
istics  of  the  pictures  in  the  British  department  varied  with 
the  differing  nature  of  the  processes  adopted,  and  the  amount 
of  success  attendant  upon  their  use;  so  much  so,  that  the 
works  of  many  of  the  exhibitors  were  in  possession  of  a 
style  sufficient  to  distinguish  them  without  reference  to  the 
Catalogue.  These  peculiarities  I  have  carefully  described 
in  my  Report,  and  shall  not  now  detail.  It  is,  however, 
but  justice  to  Mr.  Mayall,  to  mention  that,  since  writing 
the  Report,  I  have  become  acquainted  with  the  fact,  that 
many  of  the  daguerreotypes  exhibited  by  him  had  been 
taken  ten  or  twelve  years :  this  fact  was  not  detailed  to  the 
Jurors  when  engaged  in  making  their  examinations,  and, 
consequently,  has  exercised  no  influence  in  favour  of  the 
award  which  Mr.  Mayall  has  received.  It  is  at  the  same 
time  to  be  regretted,  that  the  daguerreotypes  exhibited  by 
this  gentleman,  all  of  which  were  executed  in  this  country, 
were  very  many  of  them  distributed  into  the  American  de¬ 
partment  among  American  works  of  art. 

Turning  to  the  paper  and  glass  photography  of  the  Ex¬ 
hibition,  we  are  again  assured  of  the  activity  of  experimental 
attempts  for  its  improvement;  and  here  England,  again 
eminent  for  experiment,  was  certainly  surpassed  by  the 
calotypes  and  sun  pictures  of  France ;  America  was  with¬ 
drawn  entirely  from  competition ;  and  Germany  and  Austria 


AND  PROCESSES.  283 

contributed  to  supply  her  place,  by  the  exhibition  of  several 
photographs. 

Before  proceeding  farther,  it  will  be  necessary  to  observe 
that  the  almost  endless  variety  and  modification  of  daguer¬ 
reotypes  and  talbotypes  exhibited  rendered  it  most  difficult 
to  obtain,  in  each  case,  the  nature  of  the  process  adopted; 
and  excellence  of  execution,  combined  with  adherence  to 
the  rules  of  art  laid  down  for  the  representation  of  natural 
objects,  became  the  safest  and  only  criterion  of  merit. 

The  nearest  approach  to  this  standard  of  excellence  was 
made  by  Martens,  in  all  of  whose  works  the  elements  essen¬ 
tial  to  the  process  of  the  art,  and  to  his  own  method,  were 
so  combined  and  applied,  that  the  spectator,  losing  sight  of 
the  means  in  the  end,  beheld  in  them  representations  of  the 
most  perfect  beauty,  void  of  artificial  effect  or  technical 
display ;  and  the  mind,  impressed  with  the  beauty  of  nature’s 
own  tracings,  was  not  for  a  moment  reminded  of  the  human 
appliances  which  had  directed  the  work. 

Following  Martens’  steps,  and  inferior  to  him  alone,  were 
Bayard  and  Flacheron ;  and  following  after,  many  exhibit¬ 
ors  of  talbotypes  and  calotypes,  among  whose  works  were 
to  be  perceived  specimens  of  M.  Blanquart’s  process  for  the 
production  of  two  and  three  hundred  impressions  from  the 
same  negative  proof :  their  blotty  and  heavy  appearance 
was,  however,  destructive  to  a  great  amount  of  the  success 
of  the  results  obtained :  their  price  was  designed  to  vary 
from  5  to  15  centimes,  according  to  their  size. 

In  the  British  collection  of  sun  pictures,  some  very  beau¬ 
tiful  results  were  obtained  by  Boss  and  Thompson  of  Edin¬ 
burgh,  upon  albumenized  glass;  their  method  of  distributing 
the  albumen  over  the  surface  of  the  glass,  and  the  chemical 
agents  used  for  the  production  of  the  rich  and  varied  tints 
observable  in  their  pictures,  I  have  given  in  the  Report. 
Mr.  Buckle,  of  Peterborough,  contributed  calotypes  of  great 
beauty,  by  a  process  of  his  own  :  Hill  and  Adamson,  talbo¬ 
types,  spirited  in  effect,  and  well-toned  :  Henneman  and 
Malone,  beautiful  specimens,  by  Mr.  Talbot’s  process,  on 
paper;  and  some  tinted  by  the  application  of  caustic  potash 
and  a  lead-salt.  Mr.  Owen  contributed  a  series  of  calotype 
pictures  upon  paper,  so  prepared  by  him  that,  by  its  use, 
he  has  been  enabled  to  execute  in  a  single  day,  in  a  journey 


284 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS. 


of  three  hundred  miles,  ten  large-sized  talbotypes.  Some 
good  photographs  were  exhibited  by  Paul  Pretsch,  of  Aus¬ 
tria,  and  a  few  of  a  mediocre  kind  by  the  Zollyerein ;  but 
they  did  not  at  all  represent  photographic  art  in  their  re¬ 
spective  countries. 

It  is  no  less  true  than  to  be  lamented,  that  this  collection, 
the  largest  that  has  yet  been  brought  together,  and  highly 
illustrative  of  the  art,  is  by  no  means  indicative  of  the  ex¬ 
isting  photography  in  England — a  defect,  the  cause  of 
which  is  equally  lamentable  with  its  effect.  When  writing 
the  Report,  I  ascribed,  and  I  think  justly,  much  of  the 
rapid  and  successful  progress  of  photography  to  the  com¬ 
parative  absence  of  patents  in  connexion  with  it.  Since 
then  I  have  become  better  acquainted  with  the  restrictive 
influence  exercised  over  the  exhibition  of  photographs,  how 
distantly  soever  allied  to  Mr.  Talbot’s  process,  by  that 
gentleman’s  patent  in  connexion  with  it,  and  which  secures 
to  that  distinguished  photographist  the  discovery  of  the 
fact  of  a  latent  impression  being  made  on  prepared  paper, 
and  of  the  possibility  of  its  developement  by  fresh  applica¬ 
tions  of  washes.  This  patent  has  been  attended  with  great 
injury,  though  less,  perhaps,  than  might  have  been  ex¬ 
pected;  for  having,  almost,  if  not  entirely,  prevented  this 
branch  of  photography  receiving  accessions  from  those  to 
whom  profit  must  hold  out  the  inducement  to  its  pursuit, 
it  has  left  it  almost  solely  in  the  hands  of  gentlemen,  the 
results  of  whose  experiments  and  investigations  are  con¬ 
stantly  before  the  public,  and  who,  while  rapidly  developing 
this  beautiful  and  important  discovery  in  its  various  rami¬ 
fications,  consider — and  justly,  too — that  new  principles, 
when  received  as  truth,  become  the  common  property  of 
mankind. 

It  may  be  observed  of  patents  in  general,  that  they 
frequently  cause  many  attempts  to  be  made  for  the  attain¬ 
ment  of  the  same  end  by  different  means,  and  that  of  Mr. 
Talbot  proves  to  be  no  exception  to  this  rule ;  the  chief 
claim  upon  which  it  is  founded  is  the  developement  of  the 
latent  picture  by  the  application  of  liquids.  A  picture, 
therefore,  impressed  in  the  camera,  to  be  developed  without 
subsequent  applications,  became  a  thing  highly  desirable 
to  obtain.  Accordingly,  Dr.  Woods  discovered  a  process, 


AND  PROCESSES. 


285 


known  as  the  catalisotype,  by  which  the  picture  impressed 
in  the  camera  reveals  itself  when  set  aside  in  the  dark, 
without  any  assistance  from  the  photographer.  This  pro¬ 
cess  has  been  used  by  Mr.  Mayall  with  very  successful 
results,  but  the  great  objection  to  its  use  is  the  difficulty 
of  obtaining  paper  suited  to  the  process.  Very  recently 
Mr.  Robert  Ellis  has  obtained  a  new  process,  by  the  use 
of  the  proto-nitrate  of  iron,  by  which  the  same  result  is 
obtained ;  the  paper  being  very  sensitive,  the  picture  ap¬ 
pears  in  a  minute  or  two  after  it  has  been  exposed  in  the 
camera,  but  though  both  these  processes  (one  of  which  was 
called  into  existence  by  the  necessity  of  a  process  different 
from  that  of  Mr.  Talbot’s,  for  the  purpose  of  geological 
investigations),  and  various  others  are  due  to  the  enforce¬ 
ment  of  Mr.  Talbot’s  patent,  it  is  believed  that  the  reason 
the  French  photographers  in  the  Exhibition  excelled  our 
own  was  chiefly  because  this  patent  right  does  not  restrict 
them.  These  restrictions  consist  in  the  requirement  of  a 
large  sum  for  a  license  to  use  Mr.  Talbot’s  process  for 
practical  purposes,  or  prosecution  for  the  infringement  of 
the  patent.  Under  these  restrictions,  M.  Martens’  beau¬ 
tiful  photographs  are  excluded  from  the  market  in  this 
country,  and  the  specimens  exhibited  by  that  gentleman 
were  withdrawn  again  to  France,  the  sale  of  them  in  Lon¬ 
don  being  at  once  checked  by  a  threat  that  proceedings 
would  be  instituted  against  him  for  the  infringement  of 
Mr.  Talbot’s  patent. 

Let  us  now  be  content  to  take  a  more  general  view  of 
the  subject,  which  affords  a  striking  illustration  of  the  ger¬ 
mination  of  new  principles,  by  showing  how  the  groundwork 
of  a  science  originated  in  France  has  been  received  among 
nations,  which  ever  since  have  been  silently  promoting  its 
advance  and  contributing  to  its  improvement,  each  in  a  man¬ 
ner  suited  to  its  peculiar  genius, — a  germination  arising  out 
of  the  fact,  that  ever  at  hand  are  to  be  found  talent  and  in¬ 
dustry  leady  to  receive  new  direction  and  fresh  impetus  in 
the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  which  when  gathered,  has 
rarely  been  garnered  for  the  benefit  of  the  few,  but  has  been 
widely  scattered  for  the  use  of  all  capable  of,  and  willing  to 
appreciate  the  gift,  by  which  means  the  bulk  of  information 
collected  from  the  date  of  the  Daguerrian  invention  has  been 


286 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 


dispersed,  to  collect  again  with  interest  subservient  still  to 
its  advancement.  A  great  step  towards  the  same  end  was 
the  collection  of  photographs  in  the  Exhibition,  which  af¬ 
forded  to  the  photologist  a  larger  field  of  observation  than 
he  could  have  before  enjoyed  :  many  of  the  producing  pro¬ 
cesses  have  long  been  common  property,  but  not  so  their 
several  results.  The  Exhibition  supplied  this  deficiency  as 
far  as  existing  causes  permitted,  and  placed  the  inquirer  at 
once  in  possession  of  a  class  of  information,  which  before 
could  only  have  been  obtained  through  the  trouble  and  in¬ 
convenience  of  personal  introductions  and  mutual  interchange 
of  specimens  ;  at  the  same  time  placing  him  in  possession, 
not  only  of  a  means  of  estimating  their  relative  merits,  but 
also  of  emulating  any  one  style  it  might  seem  desirable  to  him 
to  adopt  or  improve,  either  of  his  own  or  other  countries, 
the  characteristics  of  which  were  severally  attended  with 
some  peculiar  merit  or  excellence.  A  means  of  studying 
cause  and  effect,  such  as  this  collection  afforded  to  the  prac¬ 
tised  photographist,  can  scarcely  be  unattended  with  im¬ 
portant  results;  and  the  public,  many  of  whom  have,  for 
the  first  time,  seen  a  really  good  daguerreotype,  will  be  bet¬ 
ter  informed  of  the  power  of  the  art  as  applied  to  the  pur¬ 
poses  of  representation.  The  imperfect  application  of  pho¬ 
tography  was  well  represented  in  the  Exhibition,  and  showed 
plainly  that  to  please  the  eye,  and  administer  to  personal 
feelings,  is  the  chief  purpose  to  which  a  power  capable  of 
higher  and  more  useful  applications  is  at  present  applied. 
In  my  Report,  I  have  enlarged  upon  its  utility  as  applied 
to  the  purposes  of  art,  science,  and  literature ;  but  time 
only  permits  me  to  mention  that  there  were  no  specimens 
of  ancient  inscriptions,  no  delineations  of  tropical  or  remote 
scenery  (excepting  Claudet’s),  no  specimens  of  the  actinic 
spectrum  on  chemical  preparations,  no  magnified  represent¬ 
ations  of  the  microscopic  products  of  nature,  no  copies  of 
ancient  manuscripts,  no  miniatures  of  printed  books,  no 
specimens  of  scotography,  or  the  art  of  copying  engravings 
by  simple  juxtaposition  in  the  dark  by  obscure  inter¬ 
radiation,  and  many  other  applications  to  which  it  is  well 
adapted. 

Whipple,  however  (U.S.A.,  451),  by  exhibiting  a  pho¬ 
tographic  image  of  the  moon,  has  broken  ground  for  its  ap- 


AND  PROCESSES. 


287 


plication  to  astronomy.  No  photographic  image  of  a  star 
has  as  yet,  as  far  as  I  know,  been  obtained,  but  great  would 
be  the  advantages  secured,  if  by  merely  using  prepared 
paper,  the  relative  position  of  the  objects  in  the  field  of  a 
telescope  could  be  made  self-registering.  I  can,  indeed,  well 
conceive,  that  with  a  good  working  system  of  photography, 
stars,  invisible  to  the  eye,  may  be  made  to  register  their  po¬ 
sition  with  the  same  telescope,  even  looking  with  a  black 
field,  because,  with  a  well-adjusted  clock  motion,  the  same 
object  may  be  made  to  occupy  the  same  position  on  the 
plate,  or  paper,  for  any  length  of  time.  By  such  a  system 
much  distressing  work  in  searching  for  new  objects  might 
be  avoided,  and  I  think  it  is  a  subject  which  cannot  be  too 
strongly  insisted  upon. 


Mr.  Brooke  exhibited  his  admirable  system  for  the  pho¬ 
tographic  self-registration  of  natural  phenomena,  including 
apparatus  for  ascertaining  all  those  elements  in  magnetism 
at  present  considered  important  to  investigate,  and  also  a 
means  of  registering  some  of  the  elements  necessary  for 
meteorological  investigations.  Thus  every  change  of  position 


288 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 


in  the  magnet  is  recorded ;  and  not  only  is  the  change  noted, 
but  the  peculiarities  of  its  motion  also  registered.  The  in¬ 
timate  connexion  existing  between  the  aurora  borealis  and 
magnetism  is  ocularly  shown,  and  also  many  particulars 
which,  in  the  ordinary  mode  of  observing,  would  necessarily 
escape  detection.  The  exhibition  of  Mr.  Brooke’s  system 
of  photography  to  the  self-registration  of  natural  phenomena 
will,  I  am  convinced,  be  immediately  followed  in  different 
countries,  and  become  a  means  of  increasing  our  knowledge 
of  undoubted  facts.  Since  the  Exhibition,  France  and  Spain 
have  ordered  the  necessary  apparatus,  and  the  Jurors  of 
other  countries  have  also  recommended  its  adoption. 

The  principle  is  shown  in  the  annexed  cut,  in  which  a 
represents  a  part  of  a  bar  magnet;  b  a  concave  mirror, 
resting  in  a  stirrup  firmly  attached  to  the  suspension  appa¬ 
ratus,  the  whole  being  supported  by  a  single  thread ;  e  a 
blackened  glass  cylinder,  wrapped  round  with  photographic 
paper ;  d  a  plano-convex  lens  ;  c  a  lamp  placed  a  little  out 
of  the  line  which  joins  the  centres  of  the  cylinder  and 
magnet. 

In  operation,  a  pencil  of  light  passes  from  c  through  a 
very  narrow  aperture,  diverges  and  spreads  over  the  mirror 
b,  from  which  it  is  reflected,  and  diverges  to  the  lens  d,  and 
is  condensed  into  a  well-defined  spot  of  light  at  the  surface 
of  the  paper.  The  action  of  this  spot  upon  the  photographic 
paper  is  to  leave  a  trace,  which  is,  however,  imperceptible, 
until  subsequently  revealed  by  the  application  of  solutions. 

As  the  whole  of  the  suspension  apparatus  is  firmly  fixed 
together,  the  mirror  partakes  of  every  movement  of  the 
magnet,  and  reflecting  the  spot  of  light  to  different  parts 
of  the  paper,  according  to  the  communicated  movement, 
causes  the  photographic  action  created  by  the  spot  to  become 
a  record  of  the  movements  of  the  magnet  with  which  it  is 
identified. 

The  undulations  in  the  trace  when  developed  are  thus 
in  exact  accordance  with  the  deflections  of  the  magnet  to 
the  right  and  left;  a  period  of  rest,  during  which  time  the 
spot  remains  stationary,  being  indicated  by  an  undeviating 
line,  the  continuity  of  which  remains  unbroken,  as  the 
cylinder  is  placed  in  gear  with  a  chronometer,  by  means  of 
the  winch-iron  at  the  end  of  the  cylinder  resting  in  the 


AND  PROCESSES. 


289 


Land  of  the  chronometer,  forked  for  its  reception,  which 
revolves  once  in  twelve  hours. 

Balances. 

Next  in  order  of  arrangement,  Balances  claim  our  atten¬ 
tion.  The  fine  collection  in  the  Exhibition  included  superior 
instruments  furnished  by  the  United  Kingdom,  France, 
Germany,  Belgium,  Austria,  Netherlands,  Sweden,  Norway, 
and  the  United  States  of  America.  Many  of  them  had 
never  been  surpassed  in  beauty  of  workmanship  and  in  the 
essentials  of  good  instruments.  It  may  not  be  out  of  placo 
here  to  mention,  that  the  Exhibition  made  known  an  appli¬ 
cation  of  voltaic  action  of  great  value,  by  T.  II.  Henry,  Esq., 
by  coating  with  perfect  success  the  beams  of  two  of  the 
balances  exhibited  by  Oertling,  the  one  with  palladium,  and 
the  other  with  platina.  By  this  application,  a  derivative 
from  the  electrotype,  the  inferior  metals  are  covered  with 
the  superior, — a  process  applicable  to  thermometer  scales, 
to  the  limbs  of  astronomical  and  geodetical  instruments, 
and,  in  fact,  to  graduated  scales  of  all  kinds;  nor  are  its 
applications  confined  to  these  alone,  it  is  useful  in  the  coat¬ 
ing  of  weights,  instances  of  which  are  now  brought  beforo 
you  for  the  first  time,  as  well  as  the  scale  of  a  thermometer 
similarly  coated  (which  I  now  present  to  you).  Mr.  Henry 
assures  me  these  great  advantages  will  not  involve  much 
additional  expense.  A  want  of  many  years  is  thus  sup¬ 
plied,  for  I  have  been  long  endeavouring  to  bring  into  use 
some  substitute  to  avoid  silvering  the  scales  of  thermome¬ 
ters, — a  want  which  has  long  been  experienced  by  all  who 
have  used  metallic  scales,  and  know  how  soon  the  divisions 
are  obliterated,  and  who  will  not  fail  fully  to  appreciate 
this  useful  application. 

Calculating  Machines. 

Of  Calculating  Machines  there  were  several  (more  or  less 
perfect),  by  which  the  hand  is  made  to  do  the  work  of  the 
mind,  and  calculations  requiring  much  strained  labour  are 
performed  by  merely  turning  a  handle.  In  this  department 
the  name  of  Babbage  is  forced  upon  our  recollection,  and 
25 


290 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 


regret  is  experienced  that  his  name  appears  not.  No  one 
who  has  seen  his  elaborate  workshops,  or  anything  connected 
with  his  calculating  machine,  but  must  experience  regret 
that  none  of  his  talents  and  labours  adorned  the  Exhibi¬ 
tion.  Of  the  machines  exhibited,  the  best  was  furnished 
from  Russia,  by  Staffed,  and  was  found  to  perform  accurately 
and  readily  the  simple  calculations  of  the  first  four  rules  of 
arithmetic,  as  well  as  the  extraction  of  the  square  root, 
though  less  readily.  The  next  best,  from  France,  by 
Thomas  de  Colmar,  was  also  capable  of  performing  the 
same  calculations. 

Electric  Telegraphs. 

The  Exhibition  was  rich  in  Electric  Telegraphs,  and  for 
the  first  time  the  public  had  an  opportunity  of  inspecting 
their  arrangements.  Beyond  the  spreading  of  general  in¬ 
formation,  I  do  not  see  that  the  collection  of  telegraphs 
■will  be  followed  by  any  particular  advantage  arising  from 
it,  because  the  earnestness  of  all  gentlemen  at  present 
connected  with  them  needs  no  stimulus  to  further  exer¬ 
tions. 

The  Electric  Telegraph  Company  exhibited  their  collec¬ 
tion  of  varied  and  beautiful  instruments,  which,  however, 
were  not  accessible  to  the  public.  The  British  Electric 
Telegraph  Company’s  instruments  were  fully  exhibited,  and 
Mr.  Ilighton  was  in  almost  constant  attendance  to  explain 
them  to  the  public.  Walker,  of  Tonbridge,  exhibited  a 
very  interesting  collection,  comprising  in  much  detail  the 
various  appliances  he  has  found  it  necessary  to  adopt  to 
bring  the  telegraph  on  the  South-Eastern  Railway  to  that 
effective  state  in  which  it  now  is.  I  have  already  referred 
to  the  discovery  of  Oersted,  viz.  that  magnetism  could  be 
deduced  from  electricity;  this  was  followed  by  Faraday’s 
discovery  of  the  converse  effect,  viz.  the  obtaining  electricity 
from  a  permanent  magnet,  which  he  did  by  giving  motion 
to  the  magnet,  when  he  found  that  electricity  was  induced 
in  adjacent  conductors;  and  he  it  was  that  found  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  electricity  to  be  at  right  angles  to  the  polar  axis  of 
the  magnet,  and  that  magnetism  conjoined  with  motion  be¬ 
came  the  source  of  electricity.  Henley,  availing  himself 


AND  PROCESSES. 


291 


of  this,  exhibited  a  beautiful  magneto-electric  telegraph, 
^hich  acted  well,  and  in  which  the  source  of  electricity 
was  in  permanent  magnets.  I  have  since,  in  company 
with  Mr.  Walker,  seen  this  telegraph  in  connexion  with 
the  submarine  telegraph  at  Dover.  J.  Brett  exhibited  a 
printing  telegraph,  by  which  communications  can  be  made 
in  any  language,  and  printed  upon  paper  with  rapidity  and 
precision. 

Bakewell  exhibited  his  copying  electric  telegraph,  by 
which  a  fac-simile  of  the  written  message  is  obtained. 
Dering  exhibited  many  ingenious  contrivances ;  and  Whi- 
shaw,  a  collection  chiefly  interesting  in  an  historical  point 
of  view.  Prussia  furnished  a  beautiful  system  of  tele¬ 
graphs,  exhibited  by  Siemens  and  Halske.  The  details  and 
peculiarities  of  the  telegraphs  exhibited  I  have  fully  de¬ 
scribed  in  my  Report. 

I  cannot  pass  from  this  subject,  which,  if  fully  treated 
upon,  would  alone  occupy  an  entire  evening,  without  ex¬ 
pressing  my  satisfaction  at  finding  in  the  chair  a  gentleman 
(Mr.  Cooke)  to  whom  we  are  so  much  indebted  for  im¬ 
provements  in  the  electric  telegraph ;  and  fully  assured 
are  we  that  so  long  as  the  talents  and  energy  of  this  gen¬ 
tleman,  who,  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Wheatstone,  was  the 
founder  of  electric  telegraphs  in  England,  are  enlisted  in 
its  advancement,  the  superiority  secured  to  England  in  this 
the  discovery  of  the  age  will  be  neither  lost  nor  diminished. 

Electrical  Machines. 

Of  Electrical  Machines  there  was  one  only  requiring 
particular  mention— that  of  Westmoreland,  for  generating 
electricity  from  gutta-percha  bands,  and  which  gives  promise 
of  producing  electricity  to  any  amount:  this,  the  introduc¬ 
tion  of  a  new  motive  power,  opens  a  new  field  of  philosophical 
inquiry  well  worth  exploring. 

Standard  Measures  of  Length. 

\  beautiful  machine  of  this  kind  was  exhibited  by  Mr. 
Whitworth,  for  the  purpose  of  measuring  to  one  millionth 
of  an  inch.  Another  delicate  and  beautiful  apparatus  for 


292 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 


the  same  purpose  was  furnished  from  Germany  by  Bauman. 
Simms  exhibited  standard  bars  and  scales.  The  Conserva¬ 
toire  des  Arts  et  Metiers  at  Paris,  furnished  a  beautifully 
divided  metre  and  various  standard  measures. 

Dividing  Machines. 

Acldand  exhibited  a  Dividing  Machine,  very  ingeniously 
contrived  for  the  division  of  hydrometer  scales.  Perreaux 
(Prance)  furnished  a  beautiful  straight-line  divider. 


Tide-Gauges. 

Of  Tide-Gauges  there  were  two,  both  self-registering,  by 
Hewitson  and  Newman :  that  of  Hewitson  was  the  better ; 
it  showed  both  time  and  tide,  was  elegant  in  appearance, 
and  seemed  perfect  in  action. 

Iridescent  Films. 

Mr.  De  la  Due  exhibited  various  applications  of  iridescent 
films  to  the  purposes  of  decoration  generally.  This  is  a  beau¬ 
tiful  illustration  of  the  production  of  colour  on  a  thin  trans¬ 
parent  surface,  bv  the  agency  of  light,  the  colours  being  as 
bright  as  those  seen  transiently  in  the  ordinary  soap-bubble. 
The  process  is  performed  by  dropping  a  very  small  quantity 
of  spirit-varnish  upon  the  surface  of  water  when  tranquil, 
which,  spreading  in  all  directions,  becomes  exceedingly 
attenuated,  and  reflects  the  colours  of  the  spectrum.  The 
object  immersed  (paper-hangings,  card-cases,  &c.)  is  then 
raised  slowly,  in  such  manner  that  the  film  adheres  to  its 
surface.  It  is  applicable  to  very  many  ornamental  purposes. 

Acoustics. 

In  Acoustics,  the  syrcnc  of  Cagniard  de  la  Tour,  exhibited 
by  Watkins  and  Hill,  was  the  only  philosophical  instrument 
exhibited.  This  beautiful  instrument,  in  the  early  part  of 
the  present  century,  was  invented  by  the  Baron  de  la  Tour, 
who,  struck  with  the  belief  that  musical  sounds  were  pro¬ 
duced  b}r  a  succession  of  impulses  striking  the  air,  and  pro- 


AND  PROCESSES. 


293 


ducing  vibrations,  determined  to  ascertain  whether  a  piece 
of  mechanism  so  constructed  as  to  strike  the  air  with  the 
same  rapidity  and  regularity  would  also  produce  sounds. 
The  instrument  now  in  my  hand  was  the  result  of  this 
determination  ;  its  construction,  which  is  at  once  simple 
and  elegant,  I  will  briefly  explain.  The  air  set  in  motion, 
by  blowing  through  this  small  tube,  communicates  motion 
to  the  circular  plate,  which  turns  upon  the  cylindrical  brass 
chamber  beneath.  The  plate  within  its  circumference  is 
pierced  with  a  series  of  oblique  and  equidistant  holes,  and 
immediately  beneath,  on  the  upper  surface  of  the  brass 
chamber,  is  a  corresponding  series.  The  obliquity  of  the 
two  series  of  perforations  is  similar,  but  reversed  for  the 
purpose  of  enabling  the  current  to  communicate  a  rotatory 
movement  to  the  plate;  the  obliquity  of  the  holes  is  in 
itself  not  necessary  to  the  production  of  sound,  but  is  a 
conventional  arrangement  to  produce  motion  without  the 
employment  of  an  additional  agent. 

The  disc  is  thus  made  to  revolve  with  a  rapidity  in  exact 
proportion  to  the  force  with  which  the  air  is  impelled  through 
the  tube,  and  by  its  rapid  and  regular  movement  gives  to 
the  external  air  a  series  of  shocks,  which  produce  a  sound 
analogous  to  the  human  voice,  more  or  less  sharp  according 
as  the  current  turns  the  plate  with  more  or  less  rapidity. 

The  moveable  disc  is  carefully  centered  in  the  surface  of 
the  air-chamber,  by  means  of  a  slender  axis  working  in  a 
small  orifice  left  for  its  reception,  and  is  connected  with  the 
indexes  above  by  a  delicate  cylindrical  tube,  terminated  by 
an  endless  screw,  which  gives  motion  to  a  wheel  furnished 
with  100  teeth,  and  bearing  on  its  axle  an  index.  A  cog 
on  this  wheel  acts  upon  another,  whose  axle  likewise  carries 
an  index.  For  every  100  divisions  traversed  by  the  index 
of  the  wheel  with  100  teeth,  which  corresponds  with  the 
same  number  of  rotations  performed  by  the  plate  beneath, 
one  division  is  registered  by  the  other  of  the  two  indexes  : 
an  arrangement  which  affords  great  facility  for  reading  off 
the  multitudinous  vibrations  of  which  each  sound  is  com¬ 
posed. 

If  water  be  passed  into  the  syrene  instead  of  air  the  same 
sounds  are  produced,  even  should  the  instrument  be  totally 


294 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 


immersed,  the  same  number  of  vibrations  producing  the 
same  sound,  and  hence  the  name  of  the  instrument. 

This  instrument  in  use,  as  applied  to  a  continuous  stream 
of  air,  is  a  means  for  determining  the  absolute  number  of 
vibrations  in  a  second  necessary  to  the  pitch  of  a  note,  and 
may  be  set  in  motion  by  the  flow  of  air  or  gas  from  a  gaso¬ 
meter,  or  by  a  stream  of  water,  as  already  mentioned ;  and 
is  a  beautiful  and  practical  adaptation  of  a  theory  which  it 
at  once  confirms,  affording  at  the  same  time  a  key  to  much 
that  is  unknown  in  the  relations  existing  between  sound  and 
its  producing  causes. 


Conclusion. 

Suc-h  are  some  of  the  principal  novelties  which  were 
prominently  brought  before  us,  giving  evidence  of  the 
advance  of  science,  and  plainly  bespeaking  the  great  effort 
of  the  age  to  be  a  seeking  after  facts  and  their  relations, 
confirmatory  of  which  are  the  earnestly-pursued  mvestiga- 
tions  in  magnetism,  in  photography,  Brooke’s  application 
of  the  latter,  the  self-registering  instruments  of  Dollond, 
Newman,  Hewitson,  and  others;  all  of  which,  by  compel¬ 
ling  Nature  to  record  her  own  facts,  are  laying  up  a  scries 
of  undoubted  worth  and  accuracy  for  future  use. 

It  is  evident  that,  wherever  we  are  possessed  of  suffi¬ 
cient  strength  to  command  the  services  of  nature  to  our 
own  ends,  an  immense  power  is  obtained;  for  one  set  of 
laws  is  brought  into  contact  with  a  set  of  facts,  of  the 
governing  laws  of  which  we  know  nothing,  and  once  set 
in  motion  may  run  parallel  for  a  time,  but  may  ultimately 
exhibit  a  tendency  to  converge  actually  towards  each  other, 
or,  by  the  detection  of  an  agent  common  to  both,  may  set 
the  germ  of  the  theory  which  shall  unravel  the  mystery  we 
are  desirous  to  penetrate.  That  knowledge  which  we  do 
possess  has  ever  been  our  only  means  for  the  attainment  of 
that  which  we  have  not,  and  the  observation  of  facts  and 
their  relations,  with  which  we  are  daily  familiar,  can  alone 
enable  us  to  solve  the  causation  of  effects  viewdd  at  a  great 
distance,  and  only  to  be  accounted  for  on  analogical  reason¬ 
ing.  In  by-gone  times  man  knew  no  substitute  for  the 
replacement  of  manual  exertion ;  work  with  the  hammer 


AND  PROCESSES. 


295 


required  the  employment  of  men,  in  whom  muscular  strength 
was  the  only  capital  invested :  this  was  superseded  by  a 
knowledge  of  mechanics — the  law  of  forces,  which  compelled 
the  weight  to  descend  unerringly  at  the  appointed  time. 
Now  a  higher  agent  still  is  called  into  play,  and  the  galvanic 
current — a  stream,  subtle,  imperceptible,  and  instantaneous 
— is  made  to  endue  the  ponderous  iron  with  a  still  more 
unerring  precision ;  and,  more  important  still,  is  found 
linked  with  a  power,  that  of  magnetism,  upon  which  other 
agents  of  nature,  light  and  chemistry,  are  at  work  to  supply 
materials  to  enable  us  to  elucidate  laws;  and  electro-mag¬ 
netism,  while  supplying  us  with  a  new  motive  force,  gives 
us  a  means  of  handling  the  unknown  power,  and  permits 
us  to  add  experiments  and  practice  to  the  slow  process  of 
accumulating  observations. 

From  facts  such  as  these,  -which  plainly  show  the  neces¬ 
sity  of  still  increased  attention  to  the  culture  of  science, 
you  would  naturally  expect  that  I  should  urge  gentlemen 
to  its  pursuit.  As  an  Englishman  anxious  for  the  main¬ 
tenance  of  his  country’s  prosperity,  Ido  ;  but  I  cannot  for¬ 
bear  observing,  that  lavish  as  is  the  repayment  made  by 
science  for  its  culture,  inadequate  in  this  country  at  all 
times  has  been  the  repayment  permitted  to  its  followers. 
The  lot  of  the  scientific  man  has  heretofore  been  most  fre¬ 
quently  to  expend  years  of  study,  experiment,  and  research, 
his  means,  possibly  his  health  :  for  what  return  ?  To  find 
himself  unrecognised,  unheeded,  and  each  year  a  poorer 
man  than  he  was  the  year  before  :  to  find  that  for  want  of 
power,  through  the  lack  of  means  for  its  employment,  he 
has  served  to  lay  a  foundation  for  the  after  use  of  countries 
more  liberal  and  more  discerning,  and  so  to  possess  another 
with  ease  of  the  gift  to  place  which  at  the  disposal  of  his 
country  he  has  sacrificed  the  best  years  of  his  life.  His 
only  recompense,  too  frequently,  is  the  internal  conscious¬ 
ness  that  he  is  benefiting  his  fellow-man  and  adding  to 
human  knowledge ;  that  when  he  is  no  more,  his  labours 
will  still  stand  forward  and  receive  acknowledgment,  al¬ 
though  too  late  to  benefit  him  or  those  nearest  to  him — 
that  he  and  others  are  acquiring  knowledge  which,  if  not 
bestowed  in  their  country’s  service  and  for  her  aggrandize¬ 
ment,  would  ultimately  diminish,  if  not  deprive  her  of  the 


296 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 


power  of  rewarding  the  toil  of  the  most  humble  of  her  sons 
of  labour.  Of  this  consciousness  none  can  deprive  him. 

But  if  the  unpromising  nature  of  the  ground  before  him 
be  insufficient  to  daunt  the  ardour  of  the  lover  of  science 
when  once  engaged  in  its  pursuit;  if,  knowing  well  the  ob¬ 
stacles  which  present  themselves  in  the  rugged  ascent,  any 
gentleman  of  talent  be  content  to  pass  by  the  beaten  tracks 
to  wealth  and  preferment  to  choose  that  which,  successfully 
pursued,  should  lead  him  to  renown — if  thus  a  man  of  un¬ 
doubted  worth  and  fidelity  be  secured  to  the  cause  of 
science,  these  obstacles  are  more  than  sufficient  to  turn 
aside,  into  the  smoother  paths  leading  to  professions  which 
hold  out  inducements  to  their  pursuit,  the  far  greater  num¬ 
ber  of  those  who  are  well  qualified  by  talent,  education,  and 
bias,  to  add  to  the  stores  of  science  and  shed  lustre  on  their 
country. 

That  every  man  in  the  pursuit  of  the  investigations  which 
his  own  peculiar  genius  suggests  to  him  should  be  prepared 
for  a  time  to  sacrifice  both  means  and  social  enjoyment,  is 
just;  but  it  is  not  just  that  their  termination  should  hold 
out  no  promise  of  reward.  From  their  nature  they  involve 
expense,  the  purchase  of  instruments,  apparatus,  and  appli¬ 
ances  of  various  kinds- — an  expenditure  of  capital  as  well  as 
thought  and  talent ;  but  when  he  finds  that  they  have  pre¬ 
cluded  him  from  the  acquisition,  not  of  wealth,  but  of  com¬ 
petence,  and  that  just  when  years  of  study  and  perseverance 
have  brought  him  to  that  position  when  to  the  furtherance 
of  his  investigations  is  necessary  the  co-operation  of  others, 
as  in  some  measure  directed  by  himself — a  direction  for 
which  his  previous  career  has  well  qualified  him,  he  finds 
himself  divested  of  the  power  of  continuing  longer  the  in¬ 
vestments  necessary  to  his  pursuit;  the  loss  to  himself  is 
great,  but  to  his  country  it  is  greater.  A  man  of  the 
utmost  energy  and  ability  unassisted  can  do  but  little  in 
comparison  with  that  which,  when  directing  others  to  the 
same  end,  he  can  effect.  In  the  one  case  he  resembles  the 
vast  engine  which  sets  in  motion  a  thousand  wheels,  which, 
acting  in  concert,  produce  results  similar  in  kind,  but  of  a 
thousand  times  the  amount  which  the  same  engine  applied 
to  the  one  wheel  could  effect;  and  who  that  has  witnessed 
the  uncleviating  certainty  and  power  of  the  former  arrange- 


AND  PROCESSES. 


297 


ment  could  doubt  for  one  moment  the  propriety  of  granting 
means  for  the  support  of  the  motive  power,  the  conferrer  of 
such  important  elements  of  prosperity  ? 

The  scientific  man  being  so  frequently  exposed  to  a  life 
of  unremunerated  labour,  urges  me  to  express  a  hope  that, 
at  no  distant  time,  the  pursuit  of  science  in  England  may 
constitute  a  distinct  profession,  open  to  the  preferments  and 
advantages  of  other  professions; — when  the  young  man, 
ardent  in  his  pursuit  of  natural  laws  and  abstract  science, 
shall  work  on  patiently  and  contentedly,  successively  attain¬ 
ing  those  steps  in  his  career  marked  by  public  epochs  of 
encouragement,  until,  arriving  at  the  goal  prescribed  for 
reward,  he  shall  find  himself  in  that  position  where  the 
energies  and  talents  possessed  by  him,  matured  by  the 
rigorous  discipline  of  his  previous  career,  may  be  expanded 
and  freely  exercised  for  the  benefit  of  his  country,  which 
from  the  adoption  of  this  policy  would  secure  a  guiding 
power  over  inquiries  highly  serviceable  to  the  public. 

I  have  permitted  myself  to  speak  thus  freely,  from  a  con¬ 
viction  that  the  dawn  of  a  brighter  day  for  science  is  fast 
approaching.  The  erection  of  the  Exhibition,  and  the  re¬ 
spect  shown  to  mind,  by  intrusting  to  its  charge  the  ma¬ 
nagement  and  direction  of  its  multitudinous  details,  and  the 
constituting  it  sole  judge  of  the  respective  excellencies  of  its 
contents;  the  high  interest  that  science  in  its  highest  ap¬ 
plications  and  developements  of  power  commanded  from  its 
Illustrious  designer,  leads  to  the  reasonable  expectation  that 
more  encouragement  will  be  held  out  to  those  who  are  capa¬ 
ble  of  adding  to  the  number  of  truths  on  which  such  appli¬ 
cations  are  founded,  and  glad  Lam  to  find  that  in  this  view 
I  am  supported  by  a  brother  Juror.  In  a  letter  I  have 
lately  received  from  Sir  David  Brewster,  he  says,  speaking 
upon  this  subject,  “  I  am  persuaded  that  the  Exhibition 
will  exercise  the  most  salutary  influence,  in  so  far  as  it  will 
turn  the  attention  of  the  influential  classes  of  society  to  the 
vast  national  importance  of  encouraging  science  and  the  arts, 
by  placing  men  who  advance  them  in  a  better  position  than 
they  have  hitherto  occupied  in  this  country  :  and  science,  in 
place  of  moving  upwards,  struggling  against  a  precipitous 
ascent  in  passing  from  the  lower  and  middle  classes  to  the 


298 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 


higher,  will  ascend  with  a  gentle  movement,  and  carry  with 
it  the  dignity  and  importance  belonging  to  it.” 

The  culture  of  science  is  itself  a  high  test  of  civilization, 
and  we  are  irresistibly  led  to  think  highly  of  a  state  of  so¬ 
ciety,  remarkable,  like  the  present,  for  its  persevering  at¬ 
tempts  to  cultivate  science,  with  direct  relation  to  the  every¬ 
day  necessities  of  life,  its  stores  being  daily  ransacked  to 
contribute  to  the  meanest  comforts  of  life,  and  to  forward 
to  perfection  instruments,  to  assist  in  laying  up  theories  for 
future  use.  As  theories  precede  their  practical  application 
some  little  time,  and  require  a  high  order  of  mind  to  deduce 
them  from  the  observations  of  the  many,  it  follows  that  the 
succeeding  era  of  practical  application  must  give  occupation 
to  many  more ;  and  the  value  of  these  practical  applications 
the  Exhibition  was  well  calculated  to  expose,  and  did  not 
fail  to  attest  that  the  developement  of  scientific  principles 
has  not  equally  progressed  in  each  country,  although  the 
developement  in  every  case  has  preceded  a  very  little  while 
their  general  dissemination ;  but  the  exhibiting  the  super¬ 
structures  erected  upon  such  principles  was  well  calculated 
to  raise  the  most  indifferent  to  the  level  of  the  best :  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  now  established  pre-eminence  of  the 
British  microscope  will  cause  the  best  exertions  of  the 
French  and  German  makers  to  he  directed,  first,  to  equal, 
and  then  to  excel  them ;  while  at  the  same  time,  a  know¬ 
ledge  that  this  is  likely  to  be  the  case  will  act  as  an  incen¬ 
tive  to  our  microscopists  for  the  maintenance  of  the  supe¬ 
riority,  which  competent  and  close  investigation  yielded  to 
them.  This  is  a  single  illustration,  out  of  many  I  could 
adduce,  to  show  how  the  ground  work  had  been  laid  for 
the  diffusion  of  a "  spirit  of  emulation,  which,  exercised 
between  nations  vying  with  each  other  in  productive  skill, 
will  not  be  one  of  the  least  important  fruits  of  the  Ex¬ 
hibition. 

Of  the  working  details  and  management  of  the  Exhibition  I 
may  not  here  speak,  as  they  do  not  fall  within  my  prescribed 
limits ;  but  I  may  with  propriety  observe,  that  the  careful 
examinations  induced  by  the  medal  awards  elicited  the 
greater  number  of  those  facts  in  connexion  with  the  sub¬ 
jects  collected,  which  must  necessarily  stand  as  the  only 
record  to  posterity  of  the  merits  and  utility  of  the  collection. 


AND  PROCESSES. 


299 


The  eliciting  and  collecting  of  facts  is  at  all  times  important, 
but  the  combination  and  classification  is  still  more  so,  as 
giving  tenfold  value  to  those  already  gained,  and  withdraw¬ 
ing  many  more  from  the  obscurity  in  which  otherwise  they 
must  for  ever  have  been  plunged.  Without  the  Jury  ex¬ 
amination,  a  knowledge  of  the  novelties  and  improvements 
I  have  this  evening  brought  forward  would  have  been  con¬ 
fined  to  the  few.  To  award  the  medals,  the  criticism  and 
judgment  of  gentlemen  at  home  and  from  abroad  were  re¬ 
quested  and  obtained  :  by  which  means,  not  only  were  hidden 
merits  revealed  and  their  value  estimated,  but  an  official 
sanction  was  obtained,  which,  while  it  secured  to  merit  its 
true  position,  gave  to  the  public  certain  standards  of  excel¬ 
lence  highly  important  for  them  to  possess ;  and  the  con¬ 
tents  of  the  building,  and  particularly  of  Class  X.,  without 
the  award  system,  would  have  stood  merely  as  records  of  the 
industry  and  ingenuity  of  man,  whilst  the  statistics  of  rela¬ 
tive  merit  and  the  advance  of  nations  would  have  been  facts 
concealed  by  the  caprice  of  individual  opinion,  not  bound 
together  by  the  pursuit  of  a  sanctioned  and  enjoined  inquiry. 
I  speak  with  commendation  of  the  system  as  a  whole,  and 
of  the  general  results  obtained,  which,  of  sterling  value  now, 
will  become  still  more  so  as  the  era  of  the  Exhibition  recedes, 
and  the  works  of  the  present  day  co-mingle  with  the  pro¬ 
ductions  for  which  the  medals  were  awarded.  But  I  should 
be  doing  fresh  injustice  to  Mr.  Simms  were  I  to  suffer  the 
observations  I  have  made  to  imply,  that  the  second-rate 
medal  awarded  to  that  gentleman  was  to  be  understood  as 
his  due  reward.  Scarcely  any  one  in  this  room  can  be  igno¬ 
rant,  that  the  recommendations  of  the  Jury  for  the  Council 
medal  could  not  be  carried  into  effect  without  the  sanction 
of  the  Council  of  Chairmen, — a  body  composed  of  gentlemen, 
each  of  -whom  was  chairman  to  a  separate  class :  thus,  in 
the  Council  to  which  Mr.  Simms's  award  was  submitted, 
one  individual  only  represented  that  class  which  was  alone 
competent  to  decide  upon  the  merits  of  instruments  of  so 
costly  and  exclusive  a  nature.  By  the  constitution  of  this 
Council,  those  who  were  quite  incompetent  to  form  an 
opinion  upon  the  merits  of  an  astronomical  instrument  pos¬ 
sessed  equal  voice  with  those  who  were  well  qualified  to 
judge,  and  who  must  have  necessarily  been  in  the  minority, 


800 


PHILOSOPHICAL  INSTRUMENTS 


as  the  improvements  exhibited  by  Mr.  Simms  were  only  to 
be  discovered  and  understood  by  those  conversant  with  the 
use  of  astronomical  instruments.  To  this  Council,  with 
whom  it  seems  that  the  unanimous  decisions  of  the  Jury, 
and  the  groups  of  Juries,  had  no  weight,  the  Chairman  of 
Class  X.  had  to  maintain  the  recommendation  of  the  Jury 
in  every  case  in  which  a  Council  medal  had  been  voted. 
This  arrangement  necessarily  rendered  the  Chairman,  in 
some,  cases,  dependent  upon  those  entrusted  with  special 
examinations,  as  in  the  present  instance ;  a  constitution  so 
faulty,  that  the  absence  of  an  individual  at  a  meeting  might 
be  followed  by  the  loss  of  the  information  necessary  to  the 
maintaining  the  decision  of  the  Jury.  Thus,  a  system 
good  in  its  general  working,  as  securing  to  a  certain  stand¬ 
ard  of  excellence  the  same  rate  of  reward,  was,  in  this 
instance,  incompetent  to  the  necessities  of  the  case.  The 
Jury  recommendation  was  not  passed,  and  the  medal 
awarded  was  that  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Jury,  was 
beneath  his  merit. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind,  that  Mr.  Simms  did  not 
voluntarily  enter  the  lists  as  a  competitor  in  that  field  from 
which  it  appeared  evident  he  must  return  successful ;  for 
when  the  doors  of  the  Exhibition  first  unclosed,  there 
existed  no  contribution  from  him.  The  inadequate  repre¬ 
sentation  of  British  work  soon  became  glaringly  apparent, 
and  Mr.  Simms  was  urged  and  requested,  late  as  it  was,  to 
retrieve  our  credit  by  exhibiting ;  he  did  so,  and  enabled  our 
country  to  compete  successfully  with  others.  The  return 
made  to  him  might  have  been  attended  with  great  injury; 
but  as  one  of  those  in  whose  hands  has  long  been  vested  the 
credit  of  our  country  for  its  philosophical  instruments,  no 
fear  can  be  entertained  that  he  will  sustain  a  diminished 
reputation.  The  improvements  and  excellencies  of  the  in¬ 
struments  exhibited  by  him,  and  partly  explained  to  you 
this  evening,  are  alone  sufficient  to  defend  him  in  the  opinion 
of  those  who  have  long  appreciated  his  successful  public 
career,  and  foreign  nations  who  have  long  accustomed  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  resources  of  his  skill. 

Let  us,  in  conclusion,  review  for  a  moment  that  which  we 
have  discovered  in  this  one  department  of  the  Exhibition. 
We  have  beheld  the  sciences  of  the  age  in  their  various 


AND  PROCESSES. 


301 


ramifications  and  objects  up  to  the  moment  of  unclosing 
the  doors  of  the  Great  Palace ;  we  have  beheld  the  various 
methods,  from  our  own  and  other  countries,  for  the  attain¬ 
ment  of  the  same  object;  we  have  seen  those  methods 
analyzed,  their  merits  and  demerits  estimated;  also,  the 
promised  adoption  of  new  and  proved  methods,  the  natural 
consequence  of  the  publicity  afforded  to  them.  We  have 
beheld  the  union  of  practical  and  scientific  men,  and  its 
good  results  fore-shadowed;  we  have  seen  the  artisan  and 
the  poorest  labourer  culling  knowledge  to  the  utmost  of 
their  power  from  the  same  source  with  men  of  cultivated 
minds  and  high  position, — all  which,  I  cannot  but  hope, 
will  cause  the  Exhibition  to  occupy  in  time  to  come  a  high 
position  among  the  scientific  bodies  of  the  age.  The  grati¬ 
tude  of  all  interested  in  the  Exhibition  (which  must  include 
that  of  every  one  anxious  for  the  extension  of  knowledge), 
next  to  its  illustrious  designer,  is  due  especially  to  those 
promoters  of  the  undertaking, — The  Executive  Committee, 
who  invested  talent,  time,  and  income,  in  its  management 
and  success,  and  to  whom  is  due  much  of  the  good  arising 
from  its  exellent  management;  for  the  Exhibition,  when 
erected  and  furnished  with  its  varied  contents,  stood  but  a 
vast  engine,  to  be  wielded  either  to  the  public  advantage  or 
disadvantage.  At  present  it  has  contributed  to  extend  the 
range  of  human  knowledge,  and  will,  in  all  probability,  give 
rise  to  the  institution  of  industrial  schools,  which,  when 
once  established,  will  hardly  be  relinquished.  These  in¬ 
dustrial  schools  will  cultivate  the  many,  and  their  establish¬ 
ment,  sanctioned  by  time  and  increased  in  number,  will 
cause  the  influence  of  the  Exhibition  of  1851  to  be  far 
spread  and  felt  in  all  time  to  come. 


Feb.  4,  1852. 
26 


LECTURE  X. 


ON  CIVIL  ENGINEERING-  AND  MACHINERY 
GENERALLY. 


HENRY  HENSMAN,  Esq. 


(303) 


HENRY  HENSMAN,  Esq. 


ON 


CIVIL  ENGINEERING  AND  MACHINERY 
GENERALLY. 


The  machinery  in  the  Great  Exhibition,  which  formed 
one  of  the  four  great  divisions,  was  remarkable  not  only 
from  the  great  space  occupied  by  it,  but  in  most  cases  for 
the  very  excellent  specimens  sent,  and  to  the  general  public 
of  extreme  interest,  from  the  fact  that,  with  the  exception 
of  locomotives  and  steam-boat  engines,  few  people  ever  see 
machinery  in  motion,  and  no  engineers  even  had  ever  seen 
all  the  varieties  there  exhibited. 

Some  difficulty  was  found  in  drawing  the  line  that  should 
divide  Machinery  from  Manufactures,  and  many  apparent 
errors  of  arrangement  arose  from  the  fact,  that  in  some  cases 
the  exhibitors  wished  to  have  the  whole  of  their  articles  in 
one  place,  and  until  the  very  tardy  arrival  of  the  things 
themselves  their  exact  classification  was  impossible,  and  it 
was  then  often  too  late  to  make  any  change.  Thus  one 
justly-celebrated  firm,  having  a  grant  of  space  for  iron 
work,  sent  as  part  of  it  cannon  and  a  sugar-mill,  several 
tons  weight,  and  found  themselves  in  the  same  class  as 
candlesticks  and  teapots.  Many  pumps  were  very  properly 
sent  as  manufactures,  and  many  others  as  machines.  Most 
of  the  mining  apparatus  was  shown  in  the  section  of  Raw 
Materials,  in  connexion  with  the  minerals  worked  by  it; 
but  in  some  cases,  where  of  general  application,  as  in  the 
26*  (B05) 


306 


CIVIL  ENGINEERING  AND 


pumping  and  lifting  apparatus  for  mines,  especially  where 
put  in  motion,  it  was  placed  in  Machinery  proper. 

Filters  were  much  scattered,  some  being  sent  in  as 
hydraulic  machines,  other  as  specimens  of  mineral  manu¬ 
factures,  and  others  again  in  exhibition  of  earthenware 
goods.  In  one  case,  where  space  was  applied  for  to  exhibit 
a  filtering-machine,  it  turned  out  to  be  an  ordinary  coffee¬ 
pot.  Weighing  machines  were  found  in  three  places,  viz. 
as  machines,  as  philosophical  instruments,  and  as  iron¬ 
mongery. 

Locks  in  all  cases  were  exhibited  as  ironmongery,  but 
several  of  them  showed  very  much  greater  mechanical 
talent  than  was  displayed  in  machines  of  great  pretension. 
Other  apparent  discrepancies  in  the  arrangements  arose  from 
the  necessity  of  bringing  all  those  things  near  together  that 
required  supplies  of  water  and  means  of  running  it  to 
waste. 

The  very  late  hour  at  which  any  of  the  foreign  exhibitors 
claimed  any  space  for  machinery  in  movement  precluded 
any  good  classification  of  position  for  them  amongst  similar 
English  machines ;  and  the  American  wood  and  stone- 
planing  machines,  and  pumps,  were  thus  of  necessity 
placed  in  the  only  space  available,  and  which  had  been 
allotted  for  cotton  machinery,  withdrawn  shortly  before  the 
opening. 

The  French  machines  in  motion,  for  making  chocolate  and 
for  wood-planing,  were  also  far  distant  from  all  other  similar 
machines  for  the  same  reason.  At  one  time,  for  machinery 
alone  an  excess  of  5000  square  feet  was  allotted  to  indivi¬ 
duals  more  than  was  available,  on  the  ground  that  many 
withdrawals  were  certain  to  occur;  and  when  they  did  take 
place,  it  was  not  possible  to  fill  up  the  space  thus  falling 
vacant  with  a  similar  machine.  On  these  grounds,  then, 
some  allowance  must  be  made  for  the  arrangements  being 
to  some  extent  imperfect,  both  on  the  ground  and  in  the 
Catalogue. 


CLASS  V. 

Machines  eor  Direct  Use. 

In  the  class  of  land  steam-engines,  the  Exhibition  did  not 


MACHINERY  GENERALLY. 


307 


fairly  represent  the  state  of  things  in  the  world  generally, 
and  many  reasons  combined  to  produce  this  result.  They 
are  usually  bulky  and  heavy,  and  require  strong  foundations 
and  large  quantities  of  steam  and  water  if  at  work ;  and  if 
not,  their  performance  cannot  be  judged  of.  Six-horse  power 
was  the  limit  put  upon  the  size  of  engines  that  were  to  be 
put  in  motion-  and  as  engines  of  this  size  are  made  by  al¬ 
most  every  engineer,  the  leading  makers,  whose  fame  ena¬ 
bles  them  to  obtain  orders  for  the  more  costly  large  engines, 
seldom  trouble  themselves  about  either  making  or  improve- 
ing  small  ones,  and  did  not  send  any  of  their  large  ones. 

Marine  engines,  for  the  same  reasons  as  to  bulk  and 
weight,  were  not  numerous,  but  were  of  a  very  superior 
description.  The  size  and  weight  did  not  deter  the  spirited 
firm  of  James  Watt  and  Co.  from  sending  a  pair  of  screw- 
propeller  engines  of  700-horsepower,  and  weighing,  without 
boilers,  more  than  100  tons. 

Marine  beam-engines  of  the  plan  usually  made  till  a  few 
years  ago,  and  still  in  vogue  in  some  places,  were  not  shown 
except  in  model ;  and  little  attention  is  now  given  to  them 
since  the  direct-acting  engines  were  introduced,  as  these 
latter  offer  many  advantages  in  saving  weight  and  room,  be¬ 
sides  having  fewer  parts  liable  to  fracture.  None  of  the 
builders  of  large  engines  on  the  Clyde  sent  at  all,  though 
one  of  them  devoted  much  time  to  the  Jury. 

Marine  oscillating  engines  for  paddle-wheel  boats,  and  of 
admirable  arrangement,  were  shown  in  model  by  two  of  the 
first  English  makers,  Maudslay  and  Penn,  the  latter  of 
whom  sent  also  a  pair  of  12-horse  engines  as  used  in  the 
boats  on  the  river;  and  a  pair  of  full-sized  70-horse  boat- 
engines  were  sent  from  Belgium  by  Cockerell,  of  Liege. 

This  class  of  engine  has  been  little  altered  in  arrange¬ 
ment  since  its  introduction  in  boats,  except  in  the  position 
of  the  air-pumps,  and  in  being  better  balanced  by  having 
two  small  slide-valves  near  the  sides,  instead  of  one  at  the 
front.  This  modification  will  no  doubt  be  now  generally 
followed,  as  its  advantages  are  evident  in  keeping  the  en¬ 
gines  better  balanced,  and  the  gear  lighter  and  more  com¬ 
pact 

hlarine  boilers,  which  are  of  such  importance  in  steam- 
navigation,  were,  from  their  bulk,  almost  totally  unrepre- 


308 


CIVIL  ENGINEERING  AND 


sented,  although  few  things  of  the  present  day  show  more 
rapid  progress  and  greater  varieties  of  arrangement  and 
proportion.  The  modern  tubular  boiler  has  nearly  super¬ 
seded  the  old  class  of  flue  boilers  in  steam-vessels,  and,  like 
the  direct-acting  engines,  saves  much  room,  as  well  as  great 
weights  of  water  and  iron. 

Marine  engines  for  driving  the  screw-propeller  were  ob¬ 
jects  of  much  interest  at  the  Exhibition ;  and  rapid  pro¬ 
gress  is  making  in  this  sort  of  engine,  which  offers  in  many 
cases  great  advantages  for  steam-vessels,  even  over  the  most 
improved  form  of  direct-acting  paddle-wheel  engines;  for, 
fortunately  for  the  progress  of  science  in  this  department, 
the  long  and  firmly-established  rules  respecting  the  speed  at 
which  the  pistons  of  condensing  steam-engines  should  move, 
were  of  necessity  abandoned  when  the  engines  were  con¬ 
nected  direct  on  to  the  screw-shaft,  and  experience  has 
proved  that  increased  speeds  in  marine  condensing  engines 
may  be  obtained  without  any  inconvenience,  especially  when 
canvass  or  india-rubber  valves  are  substituted  in  the  air- 
pumps  for  the  old  metal  valves,  which  were  quite  unsuited 
for  high  speeds. 

In  some  cases,  makers  are  still  using  geared  wheels  to 
gain  the  necessary  speed  of  the  propeller  shaft,  but  this 
plan  will  probably  be  completely  superseded  by  engines 
coupled  direct  on  to  it ;  as,  with  the  example  before  us  of 
the  very  excellent  results  obtained  in  locomotives,  where 
the  pistons  often  run  four  or  five  times  the  speed  formerly 
considered  right,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  same  thing 
may  be  done  in  steam-boats :  for  instance,  a  locomotive  en¬ 
gine  of  the  largest  class  will  exert  a  force  equal  to  that  of 
1000  horses,  although  it  will  weigh  only  35  tons ;  and  this 
includes  water  in  the  boiler,  giving  the  power  of  about  30 
horses  for  each  ton  weight. 

Let  us  now  look  at  the  weights  of  marine  engines.  First 
of  all,  the  old  beam-engiues  and  flued  boilers,  with  3  or 
41bs.  steam,  gave  only  a  force  equal  to  about  that  of  two 
horses  for  each  ton  weight.  The  direct-acting  engines  and 
tubular  boilers,  and  increased  pressure  and  speed  of  piston, 
may  be  said  to  have  brought  each  ton  weight  to  equal  the 
power  of  four  horses,  and,  in  one  or  two  cases,  even  up  to 
that  of  six  horses.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  that  owing 


MACHINERY  GENERALLY. 


309 


to  low  pressure  being  used  in  marine  engines,  they  are  bur¬ 
dened  with  condensing  apparatus,  and  are  necessarily  very 
bulky.  Salt  water,  too,  in  many  cases,  and  in  all  the  ne¬ 
cessity  of  guarding  against  fire  on  ship-board,  prevents  di¬ 
minution  in  the  boilers  to  the  extent  of  those  of  locomotives; 
but,  allowing  for  all  these  circumstances,  it  hardly  justifies 
so  great  a  difference  in  the  power  obtained  from  a  certain 
weight  in  machinery  as  we  find  to  exist  between  locomotive 
and  marine  engines. 

The  Exhibition  shows  us,  that  in  the  better  sorts  of  en¬ 
gines  sent  there  the  simplification  of  parts  is  very  much 
studied,  and  especially  in  the  screw-propeller  engines,  which, 
for  condensing  engines,  are  of  great  simplicity  compared 
with  previous  productions  even  of  the  same  makers.  The 
models  on  the  table  are  of  some  of  the  most  approved 
modern  forms,  by  Maudslay  and  Penn. 

Of  screw-propellers  themselves,  one  great  novelty  was  the 
feathering-screw,  shown  by  Messrs.  Maudslay  and  Held, 
which  allows  the  blades  to  be  easily  moved,  either  into  the 
proper  position  for  propelling  the  vessel,  or,  when  not  steam¬ 
ing,  they  may  be  brought  in  a  line  with  the  stern-post,  so 
as  to  offer  little  or  no  resistance  to  the  progress  of  the  vessel 
if  sailing.  They  have  been  tried  and  found  to  answer  well 
in  the  screw  steamers  running  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 
and  back,  which  is,  perhaps,  the  longest  voyage  undertaken 
regularly  under  steam  for  passenger  and  goods  traffic. 

Amongst  the  steam-engines  was  one  sent  by  Mr.  Davies, 
of  Tipton,  to  which  was  attached  a  most  beautifully-arranged 
governor.  It  consisted  of  a  single  hollow  ball  with  a  zone 
round  it,  with  an  opening  through  the  bottom  to  admit  of 
an  upright  spindle,  which  was  attached  to  the  ball  by  a 
joint  in  its  centre.  One  side  of  the  ball  and  zone  was 
made  much  heavier  than  the  other,  and  consequently,  when 
at  rest  or  moving  slowly,  it  hung  down,  but  when  driven 
fast  the  centrifugal  force  of  the  heavy  side  overcame  its 
gravity,  and  the  zone  assumed  nearly  an  horizontal  position. 
When  this  was  the  case,  a  small  link  inside  the  ball,  jointed 
on  one  side  of  the  axis,  lowered  the  usual  brass  collar  on 
the  spindle,  and  shut  off  part  of  the  steam,  till  the  speed 
diminishing  allowed  the  gravity  of  the  zone  to  overcome  the 


310 


CIVIL  ENGINEERING  AND 


centrifugal  force,  and  the  link  being  raised,  the  throttle- 
valve  was  opened  wider  to  admit  more  steam. 

A  very  good  steam-pump  was  shown  by  Mr.  Garrett,  and 
was  worthy  of  remark  from  having  an  air-vessel  on  the 
suction-pipe  as  well  as  on  the  delivery,  making  the  stream 
almost  constant,  and  doing  away  with  the  shocks  often  felt 
in  pumps  that  are  driven  at  great  speeds  from  the  recoil  of 
the  column  of  water  in  the  suction-pipe.  These  pumps 
were  used  to  feed  the  boilers  in  the  Exhibition,  mid  ran  a 
very  good  speed,  with  very  little  shock  to  the  moving  parts. 

Very  good  illustrations  of  water-engines  acting  by  pres¬ 
sure  from  a  head  of  water,  and  not  by  mere  weight,  were 
shown  by  Mr.  Armstrong,  of  Newcastle,  and  are  an  easy 
means  of  obtaining  small  amounts  of  power  at  very  little 
cost,  especially  in  towns  where  the  water  is  furnished  on 
the  constant-supply  system,  inasmuch  as  the  water  is  avail¬ 
able  for  domestic  or  other  use  after  giving  out  the  power 
derived  from  its  pressure.  Many  such  machines  are  now 
erecting  in  London  ;  some  at  the  Great  Northern  Station, 
King’s  Cross,  for  lifting  goods ;  and  others  at  the  West 
India  Docks,  for  discharging  coal-ships. 

Another  water-engine  of  great  promise  was  shown  by  M. 
From  out,  in  the  French  compartment.  It  was  a  turbine  on 
Fontaine’s  system  of  construction,  having  numerous  aper¬ 
tures,  easily  adjusted  simultaneously  by  small  sluices,  and 
well  adapted  even  for  low  heads  of  water ;  it  was  reputed  to 
do  a  duty  of  lO  per  cent,  of  the  water  used,  and  was  esti¬ 
mated  by  the  J ury  to  deserve  the  Council  medal  for  its 
good  qualities. 

Hydraulic  presses  were  in  great  force,  and  foremost  may 
be  named  the  large  press  which  had  served  for  lifting  thn 
tubes  of  the  gigantic  bridge  over  the  Menai  Straits. 

Mr.  Hick’s  compound  press,  which  is  furnished  with  fou* 
cylinders,  is  a  valuable  modification  of  the  principle  wher« 
great  powers  are  required;  for  it  is  found  that,  beyond  a 
certain  thickness,  the  extra  metal  added  does  not  give  cor¬ 
responding  strength.  The  specimens  of  wrought-iron 
punched  out  cold  give  a  good  idea  of  the  force  exerted 
by  this  press,  one  of  them  being  eight  inches  cliam  for 
and  three  inches  thick ;  and  this  took  a  foi’ce  equai  u» 
the  weight  of  more  than  2000  tons. 


MACHINERY  GENERALLY. 


311 


Mr.  Jackson’s  hydraulic  press  was  another  variety,  which 
was  arranged  specially  to  meet  the  difficulty  found  in  obtain¬ 
ing  sufficient  strength  for  large  cylinders.  It  is  made  of 
cast-iron,  much  thinner  than  usual,  and  then  bored  and 
turned  true  inside  and  out ;  it  is  then  hooped  with  wrought- 
iron  hoops,  accurately  fitted.  The  bottom  rests  on  a  block 
or  table,  and  the  cupped  leather,  instead  of  being  fitted  as 
usual  in  the  upper  part  of  the  cylinder,  is  fixed  to  the  bot¬ 
tom  of  the  ram  itself,  and  travels  with  it :  by  this  arrange¬ 
ment,  the  strain  on  the  cylinder  in  the  direction  of  its 
length  is  entirely  avoided ;  and  in  cases  where  any  very 
enormous  amount  of  pressure  is  wanted  to  act  only  through 
a  short  distance,  the  ram  may  be  brought  down  to  the  bot¬ 
tom  of  the  cylinder,  and  the  water  being  forced  in  between 
it  and  the  bottom,  a  mere  film  of  water  is  enough,  and  only 
so  much  of  the  length  of  the  cylinder  has  any  strain  on  it 
as  is  equal  to  the  distance  required  to  be  travelled. 

In  cranes,  the  greatest  novelty  was  the  wrought-iron 
tubular  crane  sent  by  Mr.  Fairbairn,  which  is  likely  to  be 
extensively  used,  and  offers  great  advantages  in  point  of 
lightness  and  strength  combined. 

Henderson’s  Derrick  crane  was  also  a  very  excellent 
one,  and  a  most  ingenious  yet  simple  means  was  used  for 
raising  or  lowering  the  gib  without  altering  the  height  of 
the  load  on  it. 

Another  crane  deserving  of  notice  was  that  shown  by 
James  &  Co.,  which  lifts  and  weighs  at  one  operation ;  and 
a  somewhat  similar  crane  was  shown  in  the  Dutch  com- 
pai'tment. 

The  application  of  steam  to  lifting  purposes  was  very 
well  shown  in  the  model  travelling-crane  sent  by  Messrs. 
M‘Nicol  and  Vernon  of  Liverpool.  By  means  of  this  in¬ 
vention,  a  boy  may  lift  a  weight  of  ten  tons  or  more,  and 
traverse  it  either  endways  or  sideways  with  the  greatest 
facility;  and  for  large  buildings,  or  for  wharfs  and  docks, 
stone-yards  or  timber-yards,  it  promises  to  be  a  very  valuable 
aid  in  performing  large  quantities  of  work. 

the  subject  of  water-pumps  was  one  that  attracted  as 
much,  if  not  more  attention,  than  anything  else  among  the 
machinery ;  and  this  was  more  especially  the  case  with  the 
centrifugal  pumps,  which  were  little  known,  and  scarcely  ever 


312 


CIVIL  ENGINEERING  AND 


used  before  the  time  of  opening  this  Exhibition:  and  in 
these  again,  as  before  in  the  case  of  the  locomotive  and 
screw-propeller,  the  very  valuable  lesson  was  shown,  what 
very  great  effects  may  be  produced  by  a  very  small  noiseless 
machine,  running  at  a  high  speed,  in  place  of  the  old-fash¬ 
ioned  cumbrous  pumps,  making  a  few  strokes  per  minute, 
and  shaking  the  very  earth  near  them  at  each  stroke. 

As  a  case  in  point,  may  be  instanced  the  ponderous  ma¬ 
chines  constructed  only  a  few  years  since  in  this  country  for 
the  purpose  of  draining  the  well-known  lake  of  Haarlem. 
The  weight  of  the  pumps  and  valves  attached  to  one  of  these 
engines  will  be  between  100  and  200  tons,  and  they  were 
adapted  to  raise  70  tons  of  water  per  minute  a  height  of 
about  15  feet,  when  working  their  usual  speed  of  eight  or 
ten  strokes  per  minute. 

A  centrifugal  pump,  to  do  the  same  amount  of  work,  if 
on  the  best  plan,  such  as  that  shown  by  Mr.  Appold  in  the 
Exhibition,  or  that  since  made  by  him  for  the  drainage  of 
Whittlesea  Mere,  would  weigh  only  about  two  tons,  instead 
of  from  100  to  200  tons  on  the  former  plan. 

It  is  an  arrangement  also  to  which  small  fast-running 
engines  are  particularly  applicable,  though  it  must  not  be 
supposed,  that  when  equal  quantities  of  water  are  lifted 
equal  heights  there  is  any  great  difference  in  the  total  power 
exerted. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  these  centrifugal  pumps, 
like  all  other  machines,  require  peculiar  adaptation  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  purposes  for  which  they  are  required,  and  their 
most  advantageous  point  of  working  is  where  the  lift  does 
not  exceed  15  or  20  feet,  as  when  the  water  requires  lifting 
any  very  great  height  other  pumps  will  perform  better. 

Another  thing  frequently  misunderstood  or  overlooked  is 
the  shape  of  the  arms,  and  this  exercises  a  most  important 
influence  on  their  good  or  bad  performance.  In  those 
pumps  where  the  arms  are  radial,  the  work  done  is  the 
least,  and  may  be  taken  at  about  25  per  cent,  of  the  power 
employed.  Where  the  arms  are  placed  at  an  angle  of  about 
45°  with  the  radius,  the  work  done  is  about  equal  to  40 
per  cent,  of  the  power;  and  where  the  arms  are  of  the  pro¬ 
per  curvature,  as  much  as  70  per  cent,  of  the  power  may 
be  realized.  The  flat  discs  are  rather  better  than  those  that 


MACHINERY  GENERALLY. 


313 


converge  at  tlie  edge,  but  neither  this  nor  the  number  of 
arms  affects  the  quantity  of  work  done  to  anything  like  the 
same  extent  as  the  proper  shape  of  the  arms.  One  single 
arm  is  bad,  as  it  puts  the  pump  out  of  balance,  besides 
losing  effect.  Another  thing  to  be  remarked  is,  that,  pro¬ 
vided  the  speed  of  the  external  circumference  of  the  discs 
be  equal,  it  is  not  of  so  much  consequence  whether  a  two- 
feet  disc  be  used  to  run  400  revolutions,  or  a  one-foot  disc 
be  applied  to  run  800  revolutions,  but  in  all  cases  it  is 
necessary  to  proportion  the  velocity  of  the  circumference 
according  to  the  height  to  which  the  water  is  to  be  raised. 

A  centrifugal  blowing-machine,  or  fan  of  a  very  good 
sort,  with  curved  arms,  was  shown  by  Mr.  Lloyd,  and  has 
the  great  advantage  of  being  quite  noiseless;  whereas  the 
common  fan  with  straight  arms  is  very  noisy.  There  is, 
however,  much  yet  to  be  learnt  on  the  subject  of  blowing 
fans,  and  they  absorb  much  more  power  than  they  ought 
to  do. 

Fire-engines  were  sent  from  Canada  and  France,  besides 
our  own  country,  and  numerous  experiments  were  tried  by 
the  Jury  in  this  department.  The  results  obtained  were 
much  more  equal  from  all  than  might  have  been  expected, 
considering  the  very  great  difference  of  make,  from  the 
large  Canadian  engine  requiring  40  men  to  the  small  French 
engine  for  eight  men. 

In  locomotive  engines  the  Exhibition  did  not  at  all  fairly 
represent  the  usual  class  of  locomotives,  for  most  of  the  en¬ 
gines  sent  were  of  an  exceptional  and  not  of  the  ordinary 
description,  such  as  are  employed  in  doing  the  bulk  of, the 
work  either  in  this  or  other  countries. 

The  noble  locomotive  sent  by  the  Great  Western  Com¬ 
pany,  represented  truly  the  best  sample  of  the  broad-guage 
class  of  engines;  but  the  more  numerous  narrow-guage  en¬ 
gines  made  by  Sharpe  Brothers,  and  others,  and  the  usual 
sort  made  by  Stephenson,  were  not  represented  in  the  Eng¬ 
lish  side,  where  most  of  the  locomotives  were  of  the  sort 
called  tank  engines,  having  no  tenders,  and  seldom  used 
except  for  very  short  or  for  branch  lines. 

Hawthorn’s  engine  is  deserving  of  notice,  as  having  been 
some  years  ago  one  of  the  first  successful  attempts  to  obtain 
dry  steam  from  a  low  boiler  by  means  of  a  long  steam-pipe 
27 


314 


CIVIL  ENGINEERING  AND 


running  along  inside  the  boiler  near  the  top,  and  perforated 
with  small  holes,  or  slits,  which  draw  the  steam  off  without 
taking  the  water  as  well.  The  arrangement  of  the  springs 
also  is  peculiar,  for  though  a  six-wheeled  engine,  jet  the 
great  weight  is  carried  on  bars  reaching  from  one  axle  to 
the  other,  and  thus  any  wheel  passing  over  an  irregularity 
on  the  rails  only  lifts  each  supporting  spring  half  the  amount 
due  to  this  irregularity.  This  is  also  done  in  the  Great 
Western  engine,  and  some  others. 

Crampton’s  engine  differs  from  all  others  in  having  the 
axle  of  the  driving-wheels  placed  behind  the  fire-box,  which 
allows  of  a  very  low  centre  of  gravity  :  and  when  six  wheels 
are  used,  the  centre  pair  either  has  very  light  springs  to 
serve  as  safety-wheels,  in  case  either  of  the  other  axles 
break,  or  else  the  boiler  is  supported  by  one  spring  between 
the  two  axles.  This  has  the  effect  of  throwing  the  greater 
part  of  the  weight  upon  the  two  end  axles,  and  the  centre 
of  a  cross-spring  behind  the  fire-box  carries  the  weight  of 
this  end  of  the  boiler,  so  that  it  is  very  steady  from  resting 
on  three  points.  In  his  most  modern  arrangement  with  in¬ 
side  cylinders,  the  cranked  axle  has  no  wheels  upon  it,  and 
being  on  the  springs  is  thus  relieved  of  all  strains  from  in¬ 
equalities  of  the  road ;  it  is  coupled  to  the  driving-wheels 
by  two  rods,  with  outside  cranks,  and  combines  the  straight 
axle  of  the  driving-wheels  with  inside  cylinders.  The  Coun¬ 
cil  medal  was  awarded  for  this  locomotive. 

In  railway-carriages  the  use  of  teak-wood,  not  requiring 
paint,  but  merely  varnished,  was  shown  in  the  Exhibition 
in  the  Great  Northern  Railway  passenger-carriages  by  Mr. 
Williams,  and  also  in  Mr.  Adams’s  long  double-bodied  car¬ 
riage  ;  and  it  is  likely  to  be  used  for  many  other  purposes. 
The  arrangement  of  the  body  of  this  latter  carriage  of  Mr. 
Adams  is  almost  the  only  departure  from  the  form  of  body 
introduced  at  the  opening  of  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester 
Railway,  now  about  twenty  years  since.  The  axles  are 
allowed  a  considerable  amount  of  play  in  the  guards  to 
allow  of  passing  curves  more  freely  with  these  long  car¬ 
riages.  Another  very  ingenious  arrangement  for  overcoming 
this  difficulty  with  long  carriages  was  shown  by  Mr.  M‘Con- 
nel,  where  the  axles  are  coupled  to  one  another  by  diagonal 


MACHINERY  GENERALLY.  315 

braces,  so  that  they  actually  become  radii  of  the  curve  over 
which  they  are  passing. 

Railway  wheels  and  axles  were  very  good  and  numerous, 
but  no  very  great  novelties  were  shown.  However,  we  must 
not  omit  Brigg’s  compound  tires,  with  hard  iron  in  the 
wearing  part,  and  tough  in  the  other  parts ;  and  also  the 
beautiful  specimens  of  rolled  tire  sent  by  Mr.  Jackson. 

The  cast-iron  wheels  in  common  use  in  America  were  the 
only  sort  sent  by  them,  and  it  is  much  to  be  regretted  that 
no  railway  engines  or  models  of  carriages  were  sent  from 
that  country,  as  from  the  great  differences  that  exist  between 
them  and  those  in  use  here,  they  would,  when  contrasted, 
very  probably  have  shown  advantages  capable  of  mutual 
adaptation. 

There  was  a  model  in  the  French  compartment  of  a  train 
of  articulated  carriages  as  used  in  the  l’ailway  between 
Paris  and  Sceaux,  where  the  "wheels  revolve  on  their  axles: 
this  has  been  done  on  account  of  the  sharpness  of  the 
curves,  and  has  worked  satisfactorily  for  some  years,  but 
nevertheless  does  not  seem  to  have  been  adopted  on  any 
other  lines,  though  it  has  been  repeatedly  joroposed  from 
the  very  infancy  of  railways. 

One  great  novelty  in  the  railway  carriages  was  the  adop¬ 
tion,  by  Mr.  Haddan,  of  papier-mache  panels  instead  of 
wood;  and  the  mode  of  framing  also  was  both  simpler 
than  that  usually  adopted,  and  better  adapted  to  prevent 
wet  getting  into  the  joints. 

Amongst  buffers  there  was  nothing  particularly  worthy 
of  observation,  except  the  now  well-known  vulcanized  india- 
rubber  buffers  of  Mr.  Be  Bergue. 

Railway  breaks  offered  no  great  novelty,  though  perhaps 
not  much  known  among  the  public  generally.  Lees’  sledge- 
break,  or  those  similar  in  plan,  shown  by  others,  were 
brought  much  into  notice,  which  they  would  not  have  re¬ 
ceived  but  for  this  Exhibition. 

There  was  in  the  Exhibition  a  great  variety  of  plans  for 
permanent  way  for  railways.  The  rails  shown  by  Mr.  W. 
H.  Barlow  are  truly  a  wrought-iron  way,  inasmuch  as  they 
require  no  sleepers,  but  rest  on  the  ballast  itself.  They 
are  bridge-rails  of  the  very  largest  size  and  section,  and  al¬ 
though  some  difficulty  was  met  with  in  first  rolling  them, 


CIVIL  ENGINEERING  AND 


816 

that  appears  to  have  been  soon  overcome ;  and  the  Exhibi¬ 
tion  afforded  in  this  particular  abundant  evidence,  not 
hitherto  known,  of  the  present  capability  of  producing 
rolled  iron  of  very  great  size,  great  variety  of  form,  and 
excellent  workmanship.  The  joints  of  these  rails  were 
made  by  a  short  length,  about  two  feet  long,  of  a  section 
suitable  for  fitting  below  the  rail,  and  riveted  to  it,  and 
little  or  no  inconvenience  seems  to  arise  from  the  expansion 
or  contraction. 

Another  striking  departure  from  the  beaten  path  was 
shown  by  the  sleepers  exhibited  by  Mr.  Greaves;  they  are 
not  unlike  a  huge  inverted  wash-hand  basin,  with  the  chair 
cast  on  the  top,  and  are  packed  through  a  hole  left  near  one 
side  of  the  top. 

Several  contrivances  were  shown  for  strengthening  the 
joints  in  the  rails,  including  Samuel’s  fish-joint,  Mr.  Peter 
Barlow’s  joint-chain,  and  others.  The  permanent  way 
adopted  by  Sir  W.  Cubitt,  for  the  South-Eastern  Railway, 
and  the  Great  Northern,  was  well  exemplified.  In  this  and 
most  modern  plans,  the  sleepers  are  laid  much  closer  near 
the  joints  than  at  the  other  parts. 

Wild’s  well-known  switch  was  exhibited  attached  to  this 
road,  and  except  in  the  improved  details  is  but  little  changed 
for  some  years  past. 

Ransomes  and  May’s  chairs,  and  the  compressed  wood- 
wedges  and  trenails  used  for  fastening  them  down,  are  a 
great  improvement  over  iron  fastenings,  and  the  latter  are 
equally  valuable  for  ships’  trenails  from  their  great  hardness 
and  durability. 

The  rails  shown  in  the  Exhibition,  composed  of  hard 
crystalline  iron  for  the  top  wearing  surface,  with  tough 
fibrous  iron  for  the  body,  are  a  great  step  towards  durability, 
without  necessarily  adding  much  to  the  expense  of  manu¬ 
facture. 

A  most  extensive  collection  of  rolled  iron  and  railway 
bars  was  shown  by  the  Ebbw  Yale  Company  and  the 
Coalbrookdale  Company,  including  almost  every  variety  of 
shape. 

A  railway  water-crane  shown  by  Ransomes  and  May  is 
very  deserving  of  notice;  it  is  formed  with  a  rising  hinge- 
joint,  on  the  same  principle  that  many  doors  are  fitted,  so 


MACHINERY  GENERALLY.  317 

that  it  may  he  held  open  or  across  the  line,  hut  when  let  go 
it  turns  part  round  out  of  the  way  of  the  trains. 

Dunn’s  valuable  traversing-table  was  shown  by  more  than 
one  exhibitor,  and  received  a  Council  medal. 

Pooley’s  weight-table  for  railway  engines,  and  the  weigh¬ 
ing  machines  generally,  are  well  known,  and  need  not  be 
further  mentioned  here. 

With  regard  to  common  road  carriages,  which  were  classed 
among  machines,  the  principles  involved  admit  of  so  little 
variety,  and  so  much  depends  upon  taste  in  their  manufac¬ 
ture,  that  I  need  say  but  little,  except  that  it  appeared  to 
be  thought,  even  by  many  of  the  exhibitors  themselves, 
that,  taken  as  a  whole,  it  did  not  come  up  to  the  expecta¬ 
tions  previously  formed  of  it. 

CLASS  VI. 

Manufacturing  Machines. 

In  this  class,  the  most  extensive  in  the  whole  Exhibition, 
the  cotton  machines  were  most  remarkable,  both  for  their 
extent  and  the  very  complete  series  they  formed. 

Here  were  to  be  found,  especially  in  the  admirable  col¬ 
lection  of  machines  by  Messrs.  Hibbert  and  Platt,  of  Old¬ 
ham,  machines  adapted  to  display  almost  every  process, 
from  the  opening  of  the  cotton  bales  on  their  arrival  in  this 
country  up  to  the  time  of  leaving  the  loom  complete  in  the 
state  of  calico  ready  for  bleaching ;  and  the  Royal  Com¬ 
missioners  and  public  are  largely  indebted  to  this  firm  for 
the  liberal  and  spirited  way  in  which  they  illustrated  that 
important  manufacture,  and  Lancashire  may  wrell  be  proud 
of  the  way  in  which  her  machines  were  represented.  The 
opportunity  here  afforded  to  the  general  spectator  of  study¬ 
ing  the  immense  number  of  complex  operations  required, 
was  one  that  the  world  had  never  previously  known,  and 
the  crowded  state  of  the  building  in  that  part  testified  the 
interest  it  excited.  It  was  also  a  valuable  lesson  to  profes¬ 
sional  engineers,  few  of  whom  were  previously  conversant 
with  all  the  details  of  these  machines ;  and,  in  very  many 
cases,  movements  and  combinations  of  parts  not  hitherto 
applied  elsewhere,  were  found  to  be  of  the  greatest  utility 
in  other  machinery. 


318 


CIVIL  ENGINEERING  AND 


lb  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  scarcely  any  cotton  or 
other  machinery  whatever  was  sent  from  Glasgow,  or  indeed 
from  Scotland  at  all. 

France  and  Belgium  contributed  some  cotton  machines, 
but  none  in  actual  operation,  and  therefore  it  is  hardly  safe 
or  fair  to  institute  a  comparison  of  their  powers  of  production ; 
but,  nevertheless,  the  “  Depurator,”  or  cotton-cleaner,  of  M 
Risler,  was  thought  deserving  of  a  Council  medal. 

A  highly  ingenious  cotton  drawing-frame  was  sent  from 
the  United  States  by  Mr.  Hayden,  and  I  believe  for  the  first 
time  in  this  country  we  saw  the  machine,  called  a  saw-gin, 
for  cleaning  the  seed  cotton  as  it  comes  from  the  field,  and 
separating  it  into  the  two  parts — one,  the  filaments  of  the 
cotton  itself,  as  used  in  manufactures )  the  remainder,  the 
comparatively  valueless  seed,  which  forms  by  far  the  largest 
part  of  the  wdiole  quantity  grown. 

Many  attempts  have  been  made  of  late  years  to  find  a 
substitute  for  this  machine,  but  hitherto  without  much  suc¬ 
cess.  The  fault  complained  of  is,  that  the  saw-teeth  are 
apt  to  cut  the  fibres  whilst  tearing  them  away  from  the 
seed,  and  thus  reduce  them  in  length  and  consequently  in 
value. 

At  the  present  time  this  want  is  so  much  felt  that  a  re¬ 
ward  of  5000  rupees  has  been  offered  by  the  authorities  in 
India  for  the  best  machine  adapted  for  cleaning  the  native 
cotton,  which  differs  somewhat  from  the  better  class  of 
American  cotton  in  being  shorter  in  the  staple,  and  also  ad¬ 
hering  much  more  tenaciously  to  the  seed. 

Some  disappointment  was  felt  that  no  such  machines  were 
forthcoming  in  the  Exhibition  here,  as  only  one,  sent  by 
Mr.  Calvert  from  Manchester,  was  any  departure  from  the 
saw-gin  plan  )  but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  next  accounts 
from  India  may  give  information  of  other  and  successful 
attempts,  as  the  machines  were  all  to  be  in  Calcutta  by  the 
1st  of  January  of  this  year.  While  on  this  subject,  so  im¬ 
portant  to  our  possessions  in  India,  I  may  allude  to  the  very 
complete  collection  of  native  machines  for  this  and  other 
purposes. 

The  churka,  or  roller-gin,  is  the  type  of  all  the  various 
machines  they  use  for  cleaning  the  cotton,  some  with  plain 
rollers,  and  others  with  spiral  grooves  worked  along  them, 


MACHINERY  GENERALLY. 


319 


and  they  answer  the  purpose  of  separating  the  cotton  from 
its  seed,  but  are  very  slow  in  their  operation.  The  other 
Indian  and  Asiatic  machines  and  tools  were  of  a  most  in¬ 
teresting  description,  and  in  many  of  them  can  be  traced 
the  very  greatest  ingenuity,  though  they  are  rude  in  work¬ 
manship.  Amongst  others  I  may  name  an  instrument 
often  found  in  this  country  lately,  and  considered  a  modern 
invention  ;  I  allude  to  the  spiral  drill-stock,  so  well  known 
to  amateur  mechanics,  and  which  we  hud  to  be  an  old  Chi¬ 
nese  invention. 

A  machine  for  printing  calico  on  both  sides  was  shown 
by  Mr.  Dalton,  and  the  accuracy  with  which  the  pattern  on 
the  two  sides  coincided  was  most  wonderful ;  it  was  much 
to  be  regretted  it  was  not  worked,  as  it  was  almost  the  only 
cotton  process  except  bleaching  that  was  not  shown. 

Woollen  Machinery  was  principally  represented  by  one 
house,  that  of  Mason  of  Rochdale,  and  a  very  complete  and 
excellent  set  of  machines  were  sent,  some  of  them  new  to  the 
trade,  and  especially  to  foreigners.  Their  condenser  card  in 
particular  merits  notice,  from  the  rapidity  and  simplicity  of 
its  operation,  and  the  award  of  a  Council  medal  shows  the 
estimate  of  the  Jury  of  its  importance. 

It  is  somewhat  remarkable,  that  Leeds  and  the  West 
Riding  of  Yorkshire  should  have  sent  plenty  of  woollen  and 
worsted  goods,  but  no  machines  whatever,  with  two  excep¬ 
tions  ;  one  of  them  a  very  good  set  of  worsted  machines  by 
Mr.  Berry  of  Bradford,  and  the  other  the  wool-combing 
machine  of  Mr.  Donisthorpe.  This  latter  machine  is  one 
of  the  most  effective  ever  produced,  for,  unlike  the  cotton- 
gin,  which  modern  invention  has  not  perfected  to  separate  fila¬ 
ments  from  hard  seed,  we  here  find  an  automatic  machine 
performing  the  much  more  difficult  operation  of  separating 
the  long  wool  from  the  short ;  and  the  success  of  it  may  be 
judged  of,  when  I  state  that  uncombed  wool  put  in  at  one 
side  comes  out  at  the  other  side,  the  long  completely  sorted 
from  the  short,  and  much  increased  in  value. 

Among  the  French  machinery  were  some  machines  for 
carding  and  spinning  wool,  by  Mercier  and  Co.,  to  whom 
the  Council  medal  was  awarded  ;  one  part  was  particularly 
deserving  of  notice,  viz.  the  arrangement  of  index  wheels 
on  the  mule,  for  regulating  at  one  operation  the  distance 


320 


CIVIL  ENGINEERING  AND 


to  which  the  thread  shall  be  drawn  out  according  to  the 
fineness  required,  and  also  the  amount  of  twist  given  to  the 
thread. 

A  very  simple  machine  for  cleaning  wool  from  burrs  was 
shown  by  Mr.  Calvert,  and  for  this  and  the  cotton-gin  pre¬ 
viously  named  he  was  awarded  a  Prize  medal. 

Strange  to  say,  there  were  no  cloth-shearing  machines 
shown  on  the  English  side,  but  several  on  the  Foreign  side. 
Among  the  French  machines,  one  by  Schneider  and  Le- 
grand;  in  Belgium,  one  by  Troupin;  and  in  Prussia,  one 
by  Thomas  :  all  three  of  which  were  adjudged  worthy  of 
Prize  medals. 

The  process  of  making  card  wire-cloth  was  shown  by  a 
most  beautiful  little  machine  sent  by  Mr.  Crabtree,  which, 
though  not  new  in  this  country  (the  plan  having  been  intro¬ 
duced  some  years  since  from  America),  yet  to  the  public  it 
was  more  attractive  than  almost  any  other  in  the  Exhibition, 
and  showed  in  a  most  valuable  manner  how  mechanical 
skill  may  produce  machinery  capable  of  performing  the 
most  delicate  and  difficult  operations  with  unfailing  regu¬ 
larity. 

Several  specimens  of  card  clothing  were  shown  by  other 
makers  in  England,  and  there  were  few  countries  of  any 
manufacturing  pretensions  that  did  not  also  contribute  equal¬ 
ly  good  specimens  of  this  article,  so  necessary  to  the  cotton 
and  woollen  trade. 

Prize  medals  were  allotted,  as  might  be  expected,  to  ex¬ 
hibitors  from  the  United  States,  and  also  to  two  others  from 
France,  and  the  same  state  of  things  may  be  said  to  hold 
good  with  regard  to  heckles  and  combs,  many  of  which  were 
quite  equal  to  anything  produced  in  this  country. 

Flax  machines  were  sent  by  Plummer  of  Newcastle, 
Messrs.  Higgins  of  Manchester,  and  Lawson  and  Sons  of 
Leeds.  Mr.  Plummer’s  breaking  rollers,  scutching  mills, 
and  heckling  machines,  showed  all  the  preparatory  pro¬ 
cesses  in  the  manufacture  of  hemp  and  flax  after  being 
taken  from  the  steeping  pits ;  and  Messrs.  Lawson’s  ma¬ 
chines  showed  almost  all  the  subsequent  processes  up  to 
the  complete  formation  of  the  flax  into  linen  yarn,  ready 
for  the  weaver,  or  for  sewing  purposes.  The  operation  of 
drawiug  out  and  spinning  flax  usually  requires  the  appli- 


MACHINERY  GENERALLY. 


321 


cation  of  liot  water  to  loosen  the  gum  which  holds  the 
twisted  fibres  together,  and  this  renders  the  air  of  the 
mills  hot  and  unwholesome;  but  Lawson’s  process,  shown 
in  the  Exhibition,  dispenses  with  this  hot  process,  and  by 
keeping  the  fibres  less  twisted  at  the  time  of  drawing  them 
out  finer,  cold  water  is  found  to  be  sufficient  to  dissolve 
enough  of  the  gum  to  allow  the  individual  fibres  to  slide 
one  on  the  other,  as  much  as  is  necessary :  this  has  an 
important  salutary  influence  on  the  health  of  the  operatives 
employed. 

Mr.  Crawhall’s  rope-machine  was  one  possessing  many 
good  arrangements,  and  the  arrangement  for  putting  more 
or  less  twist  in  the  rope  is  very  ingenious. 

A  very  novel  addition  to  a  canvass  loom  was  shown  by 
Mr.  Beale  Brown,  for  use  where  the  woven  fabric  requires 
beating  up  very  hard;  it  is  a  triangular  stick,  which  is 
thrown  in  and  out  by  a  motion  similar  to  that  used  for  the 
shuttle;  by  means  of  the  sharp  edge  of  this  stick  the  weft 
is  beaten  up  at  intervals,  and  will  allow  of  very  great  force 
being  used  without  damage  to  the  work. 

Messrs.  Parker  showed  a  very  strong  and  elaborate 
canvass  loom,  for  which  the  Council  medal  was  awarded 
to  them.  The  taking-up  and  giving-off  motions  were 
arranged  so  as  to  move  the  necessary  distances,  whatever 
the  quantities  of  warp  or  work  on  the  respective  rollers. 
Some  very  good  heavy  looms  for  plain  work  were  shown 
by  Mr.  Mark  Smith  of  Heywood,  and  others  of  a  lighter 
sort  by  Mr.  Harrison. 

Another  loom  adapted  for  ornamental  work,  and  with 
a  double  Jacquard  apparatus  attached,  one  on  each  side, 
giving  greatly  increased  facilities  for  speed  of  production, 
was  shown  by  Mr.  Alfred  Barlow,  which  also  gained  the 
Council  medal.  Another  Jacquard  loom,  adapted  for  the 
most  elaborate  patterns  of  brocaded  silks,  was  sent  by 
Messrs.  Campbell,  Harrison,  and  Lloyd,  and  some  idea 
may  be  formed  of  its  complex  nature  from  the  fact  that  no 
less  than  ninety  shuttles  are  said  to  have  been  used  in  it. 

The  fringe-loom  of  Messrs.  Beed  of  Derby,  who  obtained 
a  Council  medal,  was  the  greatest  departure  from  the  ordi¬ 
nary  course  shown,  and  perhaps  it  can  scarcely  be  called  a 
loom,  for  it  has  no  shuttle,  and  is  almost  noiseless  in  per- 


322 


CIVIL  ENGINEERING  AND 


forming  its  beautiful  movements — in  fact,  it  is  a  machine 
which  may  be  almost  said  to  be  adapted  for  a  drawing-room. 
There  are  twenty  or  thirty  breadths  of  fringe  made  at  once, 
and  as  many  different  colours,  either  of  weft  or  warp,  may 
be  introduced  in  one  loom.  The  warp-threads  are  arranged 
much  as  usual  in  breadths,  and  each  weft-thread  is  passed 
through  the  eye  of  a  needle  at  one  side  of  each  breadth, 
and  at  the  proper  time  is  laid  across  the  warp-threads,  and 
tight  around  the  blade  of  a  lcnife,  which  is  rather  narrow 
and  not  very  sharp  at  this  part :  the  reed  then  closes  up  and 
holds  the  thread  firm  while  the  knife  is  drawn  down,  and 
the  point  being  much  wider  than  the  other  part,  and  quite 
sharp,  cuts  the  outside  edge  of  the  fringe,  and  then  rises 
again  ready  for  receiving  another  thread  around  it  when  the 
same  process  is  repeated. 

Many  other  new  modifications  of  Jacquard  apparatus  for 
looms  and  lace-machines  were  shown  in  the  Exhibition,  and 
are  at  the  present  time  attracting  much  attention,  and  Prize 
medals  were  given  to  Acklin  in  France,  Bonardel  in  Prussia, 
and  Gfamba  in  Austria,  or  rather  Lombardy. 

Circular  hosiery  machines  and  looms,  exhibited  from 
Fi  •ance,  their  parent  country,  as  well  as  in  this  country  and 
Belgium,  are  good  examples  of  the  extent  to  which  com¬ 
plexity  of  machinery  may  be  profitably  carried  when  its 
production  is  rendered  more  rapid  ;  and  this  was  well  shown 
in  the  contrast  between  the  simple  stocking-frame  and  the 
more  rapid  production  of  the  complex  circular  machine 
adjoining  it.  And  still  more  is  this  shown  in  the  almost 
endless  variety  of  parts  and  movements  in  the  various  beau¬ 
tiful  lace-machines  sent  from  Nottingham,  when  contrasted 
with  the  former  process  in  use  only  a  few  years  since,  when 
even  plain  lace  net  was  made  by  the  hand.  The  combina¬ 
tion  of  the  Jacquard  apparatus  to  the  previous  complex 
machines  has  added  much  to  their  capability  of  making  in¬ 
tricate  patterns,  and  was  well  shown  by  Mr.  Birkin’s  machine, 
which  was  constantly  worked.  There  is  one  point  about 
the  working  of  these  machines  that  requires  notice ;  which 
is,  the  constant  breaking  of  threads  that  took  place,  espe¬ 
cially  early  in  the  day  :  for  these  machines  require  a  very 
dry,  warm  room,  and  the  least  dampness  of  the  atmosphere 


MACHINERY  GENERALLY.  323 

causes  the  threads  to  break ;  the  same  is  the  case  with  the 
threads  in  the  cotton-spinning  mills. 

Printing-presses  and  machines  shown  by  English  exhibit¬ 
ors  were  numerous  and  very  good,  but  few,  if  any,  were  on 
the  Foreign  side.  The  hand-presses  had  amongst  them  two 
or  three  examples  of  self-inking  apparatus,  which  is  a  step 
towards  reducing  the  time  necessary  for  each  impression, 
and  probably  for  small  presses  they  will  succeed ;  but  ob¬ 
jections  are  made,  that  in  a  press  of  any  great  size  the 
labour  is  too  heavy  for  the  pressman. 

In  connexion  with  this  subject  of  self-inking  presses  I 
may  mention,  that  a  few  days  since,  in  Dublin,  I  saw  a  very 
simple  and  effectual  inking  apparatus,  worked  by  power  and 
attached  to  a. hand-press.  When  the  table  is  drawn  from 
under  the  press,  and  is  just  at  its  extreme  distance  from  it, 
it  throws  a  clutch  into  gear  at  the  side  of  the  press  opposite 
the  workman,  and  the  inking  rollers  move  sideways  across 
the  form,  whilst  the  pressman  is  changing  the  paper;  and 
on  their  return  into  their  original  position  the  clutch  throws 
itself  out,  and  the  rollers  remain  at  rest  on  the  inking  table, 
until  the  form  is  again  moved  out  to  its  greatest  distance 
from  the  press,  when  the  operation  is  repeated  ;  this  enables 
one  man  to  do  the  work  of  two,  but,  of  course,  is  only  ap¬ 
plicable  where  power  is  available. 

In  printing  machines,  the  first  claiming  our  notice  is  the 
cylinder  machine  of  Mr.  Cowper,  now  in  general  use,  and 
used  for  printing  the  Exhibition  Catalogue.  A  model  sent 
by  that  gentleman  shows  that  the  general  form  has  remained 
little  altered,  since  its  first  introduction  many  years  since, 
and  its  use  is  almost  universal. 

In  Napier’s  cylinder  machine,  which  is  somewhat  on  the 
same  general  principle,  there  are  small  grippers  fixed  on  the 
cylinder,  which  seize  the  front  edge  of  the  paper  and  carry 
it  round  with  them,  dispensing  with  the  tapes. 

The  Scandinavian  printing-machine  was  sent  by  Mr. 
Ilopkinson,  and  modern  improvements  on  this  and  other 
platten  machines  are  fast  approaching  the  press  in  the 
quality  of  the  work  done. 

The  largest  and  most  novel  printing-machine  shown  in 
the  Exhibition  was  the  vertical  machine  invented  by  Mr. 


324 


CIVIL  ENGINEERING  AND 


Applegatli  for  newspaper  printing,  and  which  was  fixed 
and  worked  in  a  most  spirited  manner  by  Mr.  Ingram, 
the  proprietor,  the  whole  time  printing  the  “  Illustrated 
News.” 

Towards  the  close  of  the  Exhibition  a  newspaper-folding 
machine  was  got  to  work  by  Mr.  Lovesey,  and  the  public 
had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  this  final  operation  performed 
for  the  first  time  in  the  building.  A  smaller  folding  ma¬ 
chine  had  been  shown  previously  at  work  for  book-work, 
by  Mr.  Black,  of  Edinburgh,  to  whom  the  credit  of  intro¬ 
ducing  the  plan  is  due. 

Paper  machinery  was  shown  in  model  by  Fourdrinier’s 
first  machine,  and  a  model  of  a  modern  machine  by  Don¬ 
kin  ;  but  it  was  only  in  the  French  machinery  that  a  full- 
sized  machine  was  exhibited.  Excellent  samples  of  wire- 
cloth  for  this  purpose  were  also  shown  by  France  as  well  as 
England. 

Two  plans  of  envelope-making  machines  were  shown,  one 
by  Mr.  De  la  Hue,  and  the  other  on  Bemond’s  plan,  by 
Messrs.  Waterlow,  and  both  of  them  contained  many  ad¬ 
mirable  arrangements. 

I  must  not  omit  to  mention  Wilson’s  paper-cutting  ma¬ 
chine,  which  is  a  new  and  valuable  addition  to  our  stock  of 
tools. 

Turning  now  to  the  various  machines  for  working  in 
mineral  and  vegetable  substances,  we  find  a  highly  ingeni¬ 
ous  machine  for  grinding  colours,  or  other  substances,  in  a 
mortar,  by  Mr.  Mackenzie,  in  which  the  compound  motions 
arc  so  arranged  as  to  change  the  course  over  which  the 
pestle  travels  at  each  revolution  of  the  machine. 

Croskill’s  small  but  effective  mills  for  grinding  are  well 
worthy  of  notice,  and  he  is  likely  to  reap  a  rich  harvest 
from  those  adapted  for  crushing  stone  and  quartz,  on  account 
of  the  great  demand  for  such  machines  in  California  and 
Australia.  Several  modifications  of  the  valuable  modern 
plan  of  supplying  a  current  of  air  to  the  stone  of  corn-mills 
were  shown.  Several  good  plans  of  flour-dressing  machines 
were  sent. 

Another  interesting  machine  was  shown  by  Bandell  and 
Saunders,  of  Bath,  for  cutting  stone  in  its  natural  bed,  and 


MACHINERY  GENERALLY. 


325 


promises  great  saving  of  labour  in  the  process  of  quar¬ 
rying. 

Mr.  Bessemer  exhibited  a  valuable  apparatus  for  holding- 
large  glass  plates  during  the  operation  of  polishing  them  3 
it  consists  of  a  slate  table,  perforated  with  holes,  and  a 
vacuum  being  formed  below  it,  the  glass  plate  is  firmly  held 
down  while  it  is  polished. 

Centrifugal  machines  for  separating  water  from  clothes,  or 
molasses  from  sugar,  were  shown  by  many  parties,  both  from 
abroad  and  this  country,  but  few  of  them  call  for  any  special 
remark,  except  that  shown  by  Napier  and  Son,  which  differs 
from  the  others  in  having  a  continuous  action  going  on  for 
charging  and  discharging  sugar  or  similar  materials,  in¬ 
stead  of  requiring  to  be  frequently  stopped  for  that  purpose, 
and  where  high  speeds  are  used,  as  in  all  these  plans,  the 
loss  of  power  in  getting  the  speed  up  again  each  time  is 
considerable. 

Sugar-crushing  mills  were  shown  by  several  countries, 
one  of  them  very  complete  and  powerful,  by  Robinson 
and  Russell,  but  are  all  on  much  the  same  plan  as 
they  have  been  for  years  past.  Sugar-refining  apparatus 
obtained  Council  medals  in  Prussia,  France,  and  England'. 

It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  no  specimen  of  wood 
saw-mill  was  found  in  the  Exhibition ;  there  were,  how¬ 
ever,  several  wood-planing  machines,  both  for  plain  and 
ornamental  work,  from  America,  France,  and  our  own 
country :  and  a  very  ingenious  and  simple  machine  for 
cutting  fret-work  was  shown  by  Messrs.  Prosser  and 
Hadley. 

A  very  modest  little  wood  model  was  shown  by  Mr. 
Gilberson,  of  a  means  of  destroying  the  effluvia  from 
boiling  or  melting  tallow,  or  similar  offensive  substances, 
by  enclosing  the  top  of  the  boiler  with  a  hood,  and  causing 
the  whole  of  the  air  necessary  for  the  combustion  of  the 
fire  to  pass  over  the  surface  of  the  tallow;  this  draws  the 
effluvia  along  with  it  into  the  fire,  where  it  is  effectually 
destroyed. 

The  soda-water  apparatus  shown  by  Mr.  Cox  was  very 
ingenious,  and  is  so  arranged  as  to  dispense  entirely  with 
the  force-pumps  required  on  the  old  plan. 

28 


826 


CIVIL  ENGINEERING  AND 


A  very  good  set  of  machines  for  the  manufacture  of  cho¬ 
colate  was  shown  hy  Herman  Brothers,  of  Paris,  and  they 
received  a  Council  medal  for  them. 


CLASS  VIII 

Civil  Engineering  and  Architecture. 

In  Civil  Engineering  generally,  such  as  bridges,  har¬ 
bours,  and  such  works,  there  was  not  so  rich  a  collection 
as  might  have  been  expected  ;  but  one  reason  is,  that  they 
are  seldom  illustrated  except  hy  drawings,  which  were  not 
admissible  according  to  the  decisions  come  to  by  the  Royal 
Commissioners ;  but,  nevertheless,  this  class  may  be  said 
to  have  been  more  fully  represented  than  any  other,  inas¬ 
much  as  in  it  was  included  the  great  triumph  of  the  Exhi¬ 
bition — the  building  itself.  It  will  exercise  a  most  impor¬ 
tant  influence  over  future  works,  both  as  showing  the 
cheapness  and  capabilities  of  iron  and  glass,  and  also  the 
very  rapid  progress  that  may  be  made  where  they  are  the 
materials  used.  There  never  was  any  instance  in  which 
cast  iron  has  been  used  with  so  much  boldness  and  success, 
for  of  the  many  thousand  pieces  employed,  not  one  ever 
failed  in  its  allotted  place. 

Among  ’the  few  contributions  to  this  class  are  two 
models,  of  remarkable  and  successful  boldness  of  design 
— Stephenson’s  tubular  bridge  over  the  Mcnai  Straits, 
and  Brunei’s  iron  truss-bridge  over  the  "Wye  at  Chep¬ 
stow. 

The  beauty  of  the  workmanship  in  the  first-named  model, 
which  was  executed  hy  Mr.  James,  is  something  quite  un¬ 
precedented,  for  all  the  parts  are  made  to  scale  in  the  most 
minute  particulars.  The  suspension-bridge,  by  Mr.  Vig- 
noles,  over  the  Dnieper,  at  Kieff,  in  Russia,  is  represented 
by  another  model  by  James,  equal,  if  not  superior,  in  work¬ 
manship  to  the  other.  Mr.  Leather  sent  some  very  good 
models  of  his  bridges  made  by  Salter,  and  a  good  model  of 
Stephenson’s  double  high-level  bridge  at  .Newcastle  wras  sent 
by  ILawkes  and  Co. 

Some  railway  drawbridges  were  contributed  from  IIol- 


MACHINERY  GENERALLY. 


327 


.and,  and  are  excellent  of  their  kind ;  as  also  a  large  model 
of  a  suspension  truss-bridge  from  the  United  States,  by  Mr. 
Rider. 

Two  excellent  topographical  models  of  large  districts  of 
country  were  shown,  one  by  Mr.  Carrington,  of  the  neigh¬ 
bourhood  of  Manchester,  and  another  by  Captain  Ibbetson, 
of  the  Isle  of  Wight. 

A  most  interesting  model  was  sent  by  Mr.  Bremner,  show¬ 
ing  the  means  adopted  for  raising  the  Great  Britain  steam¬ 
ship  when  stranded  on  the  coast  of  Ireland ;  and  another 
valuable  plan  was  shown  by  him  for  harbour-building  in  deep 
water  and  exposed  localities. 

Several  breakwaters  were  shown  in  model;  amongst 
others,  that  at  Plymouth,  and  also  Smith’s  ingenious  float¬ 
ing  breakwater. 

Wilkin’s  floating-light  and  Chance’s  lighthouse  apparatus 
were  good  specimens  of  the  excellence  attained  in  this  branch 
of  manufacture. 

Two  or  three  sets  of  diving-dresses  were  shown,  but 
there  was  little  novelty  in  them,  and  neither  Potts’  system 
of  sinking  piles,  nor  the  still  better  plan  now  in  use  at 
Rochester  Bridge,  were  shown  at  all. 

A  very  good  set  of  boring-tools  were  sent  by  Laue,  of 
Switzerland,  and  Messrs.  Mulot  contributed  a  set  of  large 
and  complete  tools,  such  as  they  used  in  boring  the  cele¬ 
brated  Artesian  well  at  Grenelle. 

Ventilators  of  good  and  novel  sorts  were  shown  by  Mr. 
Hurwood,  and  a  new  and  simple  revolving  window-sash, 
which  offers  great  facilities  for  cleaning,  was  shown  by  Mr. 
Bodley. 

The  collection  of  agricultural  instruments,  though  not  so 
extensive  as  at  the  annual  agricultural  meetings,  was  very 
choice,  and  would  require  a  whole  evening  to  do  justice  to 
it  on  some  future  occasion ;  but  I  cannot  pass  over  the 
very  marked  improvement  made  of  late  in  the  portable 
steam-engines  for  farmers’  use;  and  this  state  of  things  is 
one  of  all  others  that  is  specially  due  to  repeated  exhibi¬ 
tions,  and,  above  all,  to  repeated  trials  of  actual  work  by 
independent  parties.  The  keenness  evinced  by  the  makers 
to  excel  in  the  trials  is  even  more  marked  than  their  desire 


328 


CIVIL  ENGINEERING  AND 


to  make  sales,  as  they  seem  quite  aware  that  however  good 
an  opinion  a  man  may  have  of  his  own  works,  yet  the  esti¬ 
mate  of  unbiassed  judges  is,  after  all,  the  surest  test,  and 
the  publication  of  actual  results  enables  makers  and  the 
public  to  know  the  exact  standard  reached  indifferent  years. 
This  was  the  case  also  in  a  more  marked  degree  when  the 
duty  of  the  various  Cornish  engines  was  first  published  some 
years  since,  for  even  a  second-rate  maker  could  not  but  feel 
himself  impelled  to  improvement  when  seeing  others  regu¬ 
larly,  month  after  month,  raising  more  water  by  a  bushel 
of  coals  than  himself.  In  all  other  machines  it  is  the  same, 
and  one  of  the  most  valuable  lessons  derived  from  the  labours 
of  the  Jury  in  Class  V.  will  be  that  part  of  their  Report 
which  shall  tell  us  not  merely  the  comparative  merit  of  dif¬ 
ferent  exhibitors,  but  give  also  the  authentic  results  obtained, 
in  order  that  we  may  have  an  acknowledged  standard  as  a 
means  of  comparing  what  was  in  the  Exhibition  with  other 
plans  both  former  and  future. 

In  reviewing  thus  rapidly  the  immense  quantity  of  ma¬ 
chinery  and  models  brought  before  us  at  the  Exhibition,  it 
is  quite  evident  that  many  valuable  contributions  have  been 
unnoticed,  but  the  object  of  these  lectures  is  not  so  much 
a  description  of  what  was  there,  as  of  the  probable  influ¬ 
ence  that  the  Exhibition  will  have  upon  the  future  state  of 
things. 

Very  many  forcible  contrasts  have  been  drawn  between 
rival  exhibitors,  both  by  themselves  and  others  interested ; 
and  there  are  few,  if  any,  even  of  the  most  advanced  class, 
that  have  not  found  themselves  outstripped  in  some  point 
or  other,  and  learned  lessons  that  will  show  early  results. 
The  impulse  given  to  machine-making  in  every  branch  is 
very  great ;  and  it  will  have  been  found  that  though  in  this 
country,  from  our  numerous  mechanical  publications,  we 
are  tolerably  well  acquainted  with  one  another’s  engineer¬ 
ing  doings,  yet  it  is  a  very  different  affair  as  to  our  know¬ 
ledge  of  what  other  nations  are  about.  This  may  be  seen 
in  "the  reaping-machines,  now  first  heard  of ;  in  the  up¬ 
setting  all  previous  notions  of  the  security  of  our  locks;  in 
the  lessons  taught  us  as  to  the  hulls  and  sails  of  our  vessels, 
and  in  the  superiority  evinced  in  the  manufacture  of  steel 


MACHINERY  GENERALLY. 


329 


toilers  from  Prussia;  none  of  which  were  known  to  us  pre¬ 
viously,  except  in  a  very  vague  manner. 

In  one  respect  I  think  there  has  been  a  great  disappoint¬ 
ment  to  all  parties,  in  not  finding  more  hidden  mechanical 
talent  brought  to  light  from  the  working  classes  than  has 
really  been  the  case ;  and  although  it  is  undoubtedly  true 
that  some  of  them  held  back  from  doubt  as  to  the  security 
offered  in  the  shape  of  provisional  registration,  yet  the  very 
many  cases  in  which  advantage  has  been  taken  of  this 
registration  do  not  show  much  apparent  value  of  invention. 

I  .regret  very  much  that  the  proposal  of  Mr.  Webster  to 
letain  and  exhibit  in  one  place  all  the  articles  thus  regis¬ 
tered  was  not  carried  out,  as  we  should  have  been  much 
better  able  to  judge  truly  of  the  case  than  now,  when  they 
are  again  scattered  among  the  inventors. 

The  state  of  the  patent  laws  has  attracted  more  attention 
in  consequence  of  the  Exhibition  than  it  would  otherwise 
lia\  e  done,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  this  session  of  Parliament 
will  see  all  the  glaring  abuses  swept  away,  and  the  laws 
placed  on  a  sound,  footing;  and  in  any  case  I  hope  that 
when  any  international  arrangements  as  to  copyright  are 
carried  out,  the  mutual  exchange  of  information  as  to  the 
patents  granted  in  each  country  may  be  made  part  of  it : 
for  a  great  deal  of  valuable  time  is  ‘lost,  both  in  this  and 
other  countries,  in  reproducing  plans  of  machinery  pre¬ 
viously  tried  elsewhere,  and  a  knowledge  of  which  is  only 
to  be  obtained  by  an  enormous  expense  of  time  and  money, 
which  is  lost  both  to  the  inventor  and  his  fellow-men.  Se¬ 
veral  small  improvements  have  been  made  of  late,  such  as 
causing  all  new  patents  to  be  enrolled  at  one  office,  but 
those  fourteen  years  old  are  all  at  another :  at  this  latter 
the  permission  has  lately  been  given  to  make  any  extracts 
in  pencil  only,  but  at  the  former  office,  where  the  new  pa¬ 
tents  are  enrolled,  it  will  hardly  be  credited  that  not  only 
no  pencils  must  be  seen,  but  even  a  printed  copy  may  not 
be  compared  with  the  enrolment. 

With  regard  to  the  question  of  industrial  schools  now 
much  talked  of,  it  is  quite  evident  that  among  our  me¬ 
chanics  there  is  often  a  very  great  want  of  sound  informa¬ 
tion,  and  any  means  that  will  impart  this  to  them  will  be 
attended  with  great  good ;  but  in  my  own  experience  I  find 


830  CIVIL  ENGINEERING  AND  MACHINERY. 

that  few  people  give  time  in  the  day  to  it,  and  among  those 
who  devote  the  evening  to  the  purposes  of  study,  technical 
instruction  is  generally  neglected  by  them  for  the  more 
amusing  pursuits  of  literature.  This  will  be  found  the 
case  in  mechanics’  institutions  generally,  where  of  all  places 
we  might  expect  to  tind  it  otherwise ;  and  in  the  few  cases 
where  mechanical  science  is  studied  by  those  engaged  in 
engineering,  mechanical  publications  seem  more  in  demand 
than  lectures.  Unlike  chemistry  in  its  laboratory,  or  design 
in  its  schools,  useful  practice  cannot  be  followed  out  except 
on  so  large  a  scale  that  the  factory  or  out-of-door  works  are 
the  only  means  available ;  and  the  recent  closing  of  the 
Engineering  College  at  Putney,  which  started  under  such 
fair  auspices,  is  an  instance  in  point.  For  these  reasons,  in 
any  industrial  schools  that  may  be  established,  I  think  it 
will  be  found  that  for  some  time  to  come,  so  far  as  engineer¬ 
ing  is  concerned,  money  will  be  better  laid  out  in  the  library 
than  the  lecture-room ;  and  indeed,  with  a  few  bright  ex¬ 
ceptions,  we  have  not  many  men  who  possess  both  the  will 
and  the  power  to  keep  an  audience  constantly  attentive  on 
these  subjects. 

Since  the  foregoing  paragraph  was  written  the  lectures  to 
working  men  at  the  Museum  of  Economic  Geology  have 
begun,  and  admission  is  obtained  at  a  very  low  rate.  I  am 
informed  that  they  are  very  fully  attended,  and  I  sincerely 
hope  that  they  may  be  successful. 

In  conclusion,  I  must  not  admit  to  express  the  great  ad¬ 
vantages  that  this  and  other  countries  have  received  from 
the  enlightened  views  taken  by  the  Prince,  whose  name  has 
been  such  a  tower  of  strength  to  the  Exhibition  in  its  early 
days,  when  many  looked  on  it  with  coldness  and  doubt; 
and  it  is  also  due  to  the  Society  I  have  now  the  honour  to 
address  that  I  should  express  my  conviction,  as  one  hitherto 
totally  unconnected  with  it,  that  in  its  officers  and  members 
the  earliest,  firmest,  and  truest  friends  of  the  Great  Exhi¬ 
bition  have  been  found. 


Feb.  11,  1852. 


LECTURE  XI. 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 


BY 

PROFESSOR  J.  F.  ROYLE,  M.D.  F.R.S. 


(331) 


t 


PROFESSOR  J.  FORBES  ROYLE,  M.D.  F.R.S. 


ON 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 


The  arts  and  manufactures  of  India,  as  brought  under 
our  notice  by  the  late  Exhibition,  form  a  subject  sufficiently 
extensive  to  occupy  an  entire  course,  instead  of  only  a 
single  lecture.  For  the  arts  practised  in  India  are  nearly  as 
numerous  as  those  known  in  Europe  until  within  the  last 
few  years.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  the  time  will  not 
suffice  for  taking  more  than  a  glance  at  some,  instead  of  a 
minute  examination  of  any,  or  even  a  general  view  of  the 
whole.  This,  however,  is  the  less  to  be  regretted,  as  we 
are  still  without  the  details  necessary  to  make  the  illustra¬ 
tions  of  these  arts  and  manufactures  interesting  to  the 
members  of  the  Society  of  Arts.  The  individual,  moreover, 
who  has  to  address  them  being  himself  practically  un¬ 
acquainted  with  the  working  of  these  arts,  must  claim  the 
indulgence  of  an  audience,  which  includes  within  itself  many 
of  the  masters  of  industrial  art,  especially  as  he  has  to 
embrace  so  extensive  a  subject  as  all  the  arts  and  manu¬ 
factures  of  a  great  country.  But  others  have  had  an  equally 
difficult  task  in  weighing  the  results  of  the  exhibition  of  the 
products  of  all  countries,  each  in  his  own  department. 

The  opportunity  is,  however,  favourable  for  looking  at 
some  of  these  questions  in  a  general  point  of  view  and  dis¬ 
encumbered  of  manufacturing  details, — some  of  them  be- 

'  (333) 


334  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

cause  they  are  interesting  to  us,  others  because  they  may 
be  beneficial  to  our  fellow-subjects  of  the  East.  The  latter 
appears  to  me  the  more  necessary,  for  we  most  frequently 
hear  India  spoken  of  as  a  farm  from  which  we  are  to  draw 
our  supplies  of  raw  produce,  when  we  want  them,  or  as  a 
field  which  we  have  to  cover  with  our  manufactures,  rather 
than  as  an  estate  wc  have  to  improve,  and  on  the  inhabitants 
of  which  we  are  to  watch  the  effects  of  our  manufacturing 
inundations.  Therefore,  while  noticing  what  may  be  useful 
to  us,  it  seems  to  be  desirable  to  observe  what  may  be  bene¬ 
ficial  to  them;  for,  freely  as  the  varied  products  of  their 
soil,  and  the  rich  results  of  their  manufacturing  skill,  have 
been  displayed,  the  distance  of  the  country,  as  well  as  the 
habits  of  the  people,  have  combined  to  prevent  the  presence 
of  any  of  their  skilled  artisans  at  the  real  University  of  the 
Arts,  where  so  many  others  have  studied  in  the  session  of 
1851.  If  any  of  them  had  been  present,  they  would  have 
seen  the  substantial  benefits  of  sending  raw  produce  in  a 
clean  and  unadulterated  state  to  market,  and  might  have 
learnt  how  much  some  of  their  manufacturing  processes 
might  be  abbreviated  by  the  addition  to,  and  modification  of 
some  of  their  simple,  and  though  rude-looking,  yet  efficient 
tools.  They  might,  at  the  same  time,  have  observed  that 
all  innovation  is  not  necessarily  improvement,  and  might 
also  have  inferred,  that  though  they  had  much  to  learn,  yet 
that  they  themselves  had  something  to  teach,  and  that  they 
might,  without  retrograding  in  taste,  retain  much  of  the 
pleasing  results  of  their  ancient  civilization. 

While  treating,  therefore,  of  the  arts  of  an  anciently 
civilized  country,  it  is  hardly  possible  to  avoid  noticing  their 
antiquity.  Nor  is  it  desirable  to  do  so,  for  though  some 
may  conceive  that  the  literature  of  the  arts,  and  their  pro¬ 
bable  antiquity,  deserve  only  the  attention  of  antiquarians,  I 
am  of  opinion  that  it  is  detrimental  to  the  arts  to  separate 
them,  so  much  as  is  usually  the  case,  both  from  literature 
and  science.  It  is  owing  to  such  neglect  that  we  have  so 
little  information  respecting  the  arts,  not  only  of  the 
ancients,  but  of  many  modern  nations.  For  those  who  are 
qualified  to  write  are  usually  unacquainted  wdth,  and  often 
despise,  the  details  which  it  is  necessary  to  describe;  while 
those  who  formerly  practised  the  mechanical  arts  seldom 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  335 

took  the  trouble  to  describe  what  they  alone  knew  how  to 
make.  As  it  is  still  common  with  us  all  to  depreciate  sub¬ 
jects  of  which  we  are  ignorant,  and  to  over-estimate  those 
which  we  study,  so  it  is  not  unusual  for  the  practical  man 
to  be  wrapped  up  in  his  own  skill,  or  what  he  conceives  to 
be  his  own  original  discoveries ;  and  though  many  of  these 
are  due  to  accident,  and  others  are  the  legitimate  results  of 
careful  thought,  he  seldom  inquires  what  others  have  done 
in  former  times,  or  are  doing  in  other  countries  even  in  his 
own  time.  _  It  would  not  be  difficult  to  show,  that  had  a 
little  more  interest  been  shown  in  inquiring  into  the  history 
of  the  arts,  even  of  India,  many  so  called  discoveries  would 
not  appear  to  have  been  made  in  the  nineteenth  century; 
but  we  might  years  since  have  started  from  points  which 
others  had  reached  even  ages  before. 

Confining  ourselves,  however,  at  present  to  the  arts  of 
India,  it  may  appear  incredible  that  we  should  have  re¬ 
mained  ignorant  till  now  of  the  existence  of  many  of 
these  arts,  and  of  the  high  perfection  to  which  others  had 
been  carried  among  our  fellow-subjects  of  the  East,  whom 
many  of  us  had  been  in  the  habit  of  considering  as  bar¬ 
barians.  A  part  of  this  ignorance  may  be  safely  ascribed 
to  the  limited  nature  of  English  education,  which  so  stu¬ 
diously  excludes  all  notice  of  the  arts  and  sciences ;  and  a 
part  to  the  indifference  which  the  public  have  so  long  dis¬ 
played  towards  Indian  subjects,  But  it  is  to  be  hoped,  that 
as  the  restoration  to  light  of  the  palaces  of  the  ancient 
Nineveh  has  revealed  the  long-forgotten  arts  of  the  Assyrians, 
so  may  the  recent  display  of  the  Great  Exhibition  direct 
attention  to  the  living  arts  of  a  people  probably  not  less 
ancient,  and  who  are  at  least  as  interesting  in  whatever 
point  we  view  them. 

Though  few  may  deny  altogether  the  antiquity  of  the 
arts  in  India,  many  may  be  disposed  to  limit  this  antiquity 
to  comparatively  recent  times.  It  is  desirable,  therefore,  to 
get  some  idea  of  what  we  mean  when  we  talk  of  the  an¬ 
tiquity  of  these  arts.  But  this  is  a  task  of  some  difficulty, 
from  the  little  attention  which  the  Hindoos  themselves  have 
paid  to  the  canons  of  chronology. 

All  are  familiar  with  the  habit  of  some  authors  of  refer¬ 
ring  everything  to  the  East,  and  of  the  now  proverbial 


336  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

expression  of  “  ex  oriente  lux.”  But  these  terms  are  so  in¬ 
definite  that  we  are  at  a  loss  to  know  to  what  nation  they 
refer,  whether  to  the  Persians  or  to  the  Babylonians,  to  the 
ancient  Assyrians  or  to  the  still  more  ancient  Egyptians. 
For  all  these  were  early  civilized  nations.  But  if  it  were 
not  from  the  representations  within  the  tombs  of  Egypt,  or 
from  finding  a  few  specimens  of  these  arts  in  the  disinterred 
palaces  of  Assyria,  or  on  the  sculptured  monuments  of 
Persia,  we  should  be  unable  to  judge,  and  unwilling  to  ad¬ 
mit,  the  high  perfection  to  which  many  of  these  arts  had 
attained  in  very  ancient  times.  So  in  the  case  of  China, 
if  it  had  not  been  for  the  researches  of  scholars,  we  should 
have  disbelieved  j.he  high  antiquity  in  that  country  of  the 
manufacture  of  porcelain  and  of  paper,  a  knowledge  of  silk, 
of  gunpowder,  of  various  metallurgical  compounds,  and  of 
the  mariner’s  compass. 

But  in  all  these  countries  India  is  referred  to,  in  the 
earliest  times,  as  an  object  of  admiration  or  of  desire;  and 
though  we  may  disbelieve  in  the  conquest  of  any  part  of 
India  by  the  Egyptian  Sesostris,  or  the  Assyrian  Ninus,  or 
in  the  expedition  of  the  Indian  Bacchus,  yet  the  very  pre¬ 
valence  of  such  traditions  in  the  earliest  times  of  which  we 
have  any  record,  seems  to  prove  that  the  country  was  famed 
for  the  richness  of  its  products,  and  for  the  early  civilization 
of  its  inhabitants.  We  know,  moreover,  that  Alexander  the 
Great  found  them  so  more  than  2000  years  ago,  and  we  find 
them  now  hardly  differing  from  what  his  historians  described 
them  to  be  in  his  time.  The  Chinese,  moreover,  derived 
their  most  popular  religion,  and  one  class  of  their  sacred 
books,  from  India. 

As  we  cannot  trust  Indian  chronology,  we  may  yet  draw 
some  useful  inferences  from  the  state  of  civilization  of  other 
Eastern,  who  were  probably  contemporary,  nations. 

Babylon,  though  one  of  the  earliest  cities  mentioned  in 
the  records  of  primeval  history,  disappears  from  notice  until 
the  time  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  But  we  have  references  to 
u  the  beauty  of  the  Chaldees’  excellency,”  and  to  “  the 
Chaldeans  whose  cry  is  in  the  ships.”  The  situation  of 
Babylon,  at  the  head  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  was  admirably 
adapted  for  commerce;  hence  it  was  succeeded  by  other 
cities  from  the  time  of  its  destruction  to  the  foundation  of 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  337 


Bagdad.  Thus  the  spices  of  England  and  Ceylon,  together 
with  ivory,  ebony,  and  probably  other  woods,  were  ob¬ 
tained;  perhaps,  also,  indigo,  and  the  purple  (lac?)  dye, 
mentioned  by  Ctesias,  as  well  as  the  gum-resins  of  Arabia 
and  Africa,  and  the  pearls  and  cotton  of  the  Persian  Gulf. 
All  which  were  conveyed  by  the  great  rivers  Euphrates  and 
Tigris  to  Western  Asia  and  Europe,  or  by  caravans  of 
camels  across  Arabia  to  Egypt.  Its  manufactures  were 
famous  in  early  times,  for  we  read  of  “  Babylonian  carpets 
and  tapestry,”  and  of  its  cloths,  as  famed  for  the  brilliancy 
and  variety  of  their  hues ;  and  as  early  as  the  time  of 
Joshua,  among  the  spoils  of  Jericho,  of  a  “  goodly  Babylo¬ 
nish  garment.” 

Nineveh,  long  accounted  the  rival  of  Babylon,  was  de¬ 
stroyed  by  the  Babylonians  and  Medes  as  early  as  B.  c. 
606,  more  than  a  century  before  the  earliest  of  the  Greek 
historians.  The  Scythians  overran  the  country  for  twenty- 
eight  years  previous,  so  that  the  latest  of  the  sculptures 
must  have  been  as  early  as  B.  c.  634.  But  from  the  deci¬ 
phered  genealogies,  it  is  probable  that  the  earliest  were  at 
least  twelve  centuries  before  the  Christian  era.  Mr.  Layard 
has  shown,  that  in  their  arts  and  architecture  there  are 
many  peculiarities  which  have  hitherto  been  considered  as 
of  undoubted  Greek  origin.  The  people  carved  and  in¬ 
scribed  not  only  soft  alabaster,  but  hard  basalt ;  and  though 
they  used  copper  nails,  rings,  and  bands,  they  also  clamped 
their  slabs  with  iron,  and  prepared  a  variety  of  warlike  arms, 
and  worked  in  gold.  They  glazed  earth,  and  knew  how  to 
make  glass  beads  and  cylinders,  to  dye  cloths,  and  make  use 
of  a  variety  of  colours.  With  the  art  of  weaving  they  were 
familiar,  and  for  embroidered  works  they  must  have  been 
famous.;  for  their  flowing  robes,  richly  bordered  and  fringed, 
as  well  as  the  caparisons  of  their  horses,  display  great  skill. 
They  used  umbrellas  on  state  occasions,  as  well  as  the 
oriental  chowree,  or  fly-flapper,  which  was  probably  made 
then  as  now  with  the  tail  of  the  yak  of  Tibet.  The  dogs 
of  that  country,  famed  for  their  size  and  fierceness,  were 
known,  and  seem  to  have  been  maintained  in  Babylon  at 
very  early  periods,  according  to  the  statements  of  Ctesias, 
as  well  as  of  Herodotus. 

Similar  observations  might  be  made  on  the  practice  of 

29 


888  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

the  arts  by  the  ancient  Persians,  as  represented  in  the 
sculptures  at  Persepolis.  But  here,  differing  from  both 
Egypt  and  Chaldea,  we  have  a  people  who  are  the  descend- 
auts  and  true  representatives  of  the  former  occupiers  of  the 
country.  And  Mr.  Gender  has  well  observed  :  “  In  Persia, 
it  is  the  living  scene,  the  faded  yet  still  imposing  pageantry, 
the  various  tribes,  and  the  diversified  traits  of  character, 
that  chiefly  occupy  attention,  and  by  their  faithful  trans¬ 
cripts  of  the  former  ages  it  is  that  the  imagination  is  trans¬ 
ported  far  back  into  the  past.”  It  is  probable,  therefore, 
that  they  formerly  practised  many  of  the  arts  which  we  now 
see  among  them.  Some  parts  of  the  country  manufacture 
coarse  china  and  glass;  others  are  noted  for  making  encaustic 
tiles  of  various  colours,  which  ornament  many  domes,  as 
that  of  Imam  Reza  at  Mushed.  Inkstands  and  small  boxes, 
adorned  with  birds  and  flowers,  are  made  at  Shiraz  and 
Ispahan ;  and  in  enamelling  they  particularly  excel.  The 
stone-cutters  and  seal-engravers,  &c.,  are  famous.  Silks  are 
produced  at  various  places,  as  wrell  as  gold  and  silver  bro¬ 
cades,  and  their  small  carpets  are  admired  for  the  happy 
arrangement  of  the  patterns  and  the  pleasing  harmony  of 
the  various  and  brilliant  colours  which  they  employ.  The 
sword-blades  of  Herat,  Mushed,  and  Shiraz,  are  highly 
esteemed,  but  are  all  made  with  steel  imported  from  India; 
hence  “jawabee  hind,”  “an  Indian  answer,”  means  a  cut 
with  an  Indian  sword,  or  one  made  with  Indian  steel. 
That  India  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Persians  at  early 
periods  is  evident  from  one  of  the  reports  of  the  death  of 
Cyrus  having  been  caused  by  the  javelin  of  an  Indian  while 
making  war  on  that  country.  Darius  is  said  to  have  invaded 
India,  and  that  some  of  its  provinces  formed  the  twentieth 
satrapy  of  his  empire;  and  it  was  in  his  siege  that  Scylax 
is  said  to  have  proceeded  from  the  Indus,  by  sea,  along  the 
barren  lands  of  Arabia,  up  the  Red  Sea  to  Egypt. 

Solomon,  again,  who  appears  to  have  been  the  ruling 
power  of  his  age,  that  is,  1000  years  B.  C.,  not  only  traded 
with  Tyre  and  Sidon,  but,  with  the  aid  of  the  Phoenicians, 
he  established  a  fleet  at  Elath  and  Eziongeber,  at  the  head 
of  the  eastern  gulf  of  the  Red  Sea,  to  go  to  Ophir  and 
Tharshish.  Eor  we  learn,  that  “  the  king’s  (Solomon)  ships 
went  to  Tharshish  with  the  servants  of  Hiram;  every 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  339 


three  years  once  came  the  ships  of  Tharshish,  bringing 
gold  and  silver,  ivory,  and  apes,  and  peacocks.”  Again, 
“  Jehoshaplmt  made  ships  of  Tharshish  to  go  to  Ophir  for 
gold,  but  they  went  not;  for  the  ships  were  broken  at 
Eziongeber.”  From  Ophir  were  obtained  “gold,  algum, 
or  almug  trees,  and  precious  stones.”  In  my  “  Essay  on 
the  Antiquity  of  Hindoo  Medicine,”  I  some  years  since 
observed :  “  From  these  several  products,  especially  ivory, 
apes,  peacocks,  and  pearls,  it  is  evident  that  only  southern 
countries — whether  Africa  or  India — could  have  been  the 
object  of  the  voyage.  But  cinnamon  and  cassia,  nard, 
calamus,  and  onycha,  having  been  shown  to  be  peculiarly 
Indian  products  known  to  ancient  commerce,  there  can,  I 
conceive,  be  no  doubt  that  the  west  coast  of  India,  and 
probably,  also,  the  island  of  Ceylon,  were  reached  even  in 
those  early  times.” — Essay,  p.  148. 

Egypt,  we  have  the  most  undoubted  proofs,  was  in  a 
highly  civilized  state  at  still  earlier  periods  than  any  of  those 
which  have  been  mentioned,  and  carried  many  of  the  arts 
to  a  high  degree  of  perfection  even  2000  years  B.  c.  In  the 
above  quoted  work,  in  pointing  out  the  resemblances  be¬ 
tween  Egypt  and  India,  I  also  observed :  “  Thus  the  arts 
practised  by  both  are  very  similar,  not  only  in  nature,  but 
also  in  many  of  the  processes  which  they  adopt,”  as  seen 
in  “  the  representations  of  the  different  arts  as  practised  by 
the  former  (the  Egyptians),  figured  on  their  monuments.” 
And  again,  “  So  great,  indeed,  is  this  resemblance,  that 
it  is  hardly  exaggeration  to  say,  that  they  might  be  intro¬ 
duced  into  a  book  of  modern  travels  as  representations  of 
Hindoo  artisans.” — Essay ,  pp.  130—133. 

The  influence  which  the  state  of  the  arts  in  Persia  and 
Assyria  has  had  on  their  cultivation  by  the  Greeks  of  Asia 
Minor  has  been  shown  by  Sir  C.  Fellows,  and  by  Messrs. 
Layard  and  Fergusson.  If  we  inquire  into  the  arts  of  a 
nation  still  farther  to  the  west,  we  may  perceive  great  simi¬ 
larity  between  them  and  the  arts  practised  in  early  times  in 
Eastern  countries.  The  Etruscans  were  well  acquainted 
with  agriculture,  as  well  as  other  arts,  and  were  the  civili¬ 
zers  of  a  part  at  least  of  Italy.  They  fortified  towns  by 
surrounding  them  with  walls  and  towers.  They  knew  how 
to  work  the  iron  of  Elba.  They  could  cast  bronze  and  make 
silver  vases  and  gold  ornaments.  They  engraved  on  stone 


340  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

and  produced  sculptures,  and  are  supposed  by  some  to  have 
invented  the  arch  at  a  very  remote  period. 

The  philosophical  Heeren  appears  to  me  to  have  justly 
ascribed  the  flourishing  state  of  many  of  the  cities  of 
Egypt,  as  well  as  of  Babylon,  and  of  such  places  as  Pal¬ 
myra  and  Petra,  to  the  trade  with  India.  Many  of  the 
products  which  formed  articles  of  commerce  were  such  that 
they  could  not  have  been  obtained  from  any  nearer  locality. 
Being  ourselves  situated  in  a  remote  corner  of  Europe,  we 
contemplate  the  difficulties  of  these  journeyings  and  voy¬ 
ages  from  an  insular  point  of  view,  and  consider  how  we 
could  have  undertaken  them  at  those  early  times ;  forgetting 
that  the  people  of  Persia  and  Afghanistan  would  have 
found  no  great  difficulty  in  crossing  into  India,  nor  the 
Phoenicians  of  the  Persian  Gulf  even  in  reaching  the 
mouths  of  the  Indus.  The  Arabs  of  the  Red  Sea,  even 
before  the  discovery  of  the  regularity  of  the  monsoons, 
might  easily  have  coasted  to  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  gone  as 
far  as,  or  beyond  the  Phoenicians,  to  the  ancient  Barygaza, 
and  been  carried  from  thence  to  the  western  or  the  Malabar 
coast  of  India,  which  is  the  nearest  point  where  pepper, 
cassia,  and  such-like  spices,  could  have  been  obtained. 

There  is  nothing  impossible  in  these  ancient  wanderings; 
in  fact,  we  know  that  they  must  have  taken  place :  for  the 
philosophical  investigations  into  the  structure  of  languages 
have  shown  a  great  similarity  between  the  Sanscrit,  Persian, 
Greek,  Latin,  Teutonic,  and' Celtic  languages,  which  are  now 
usually  called  Indo-Germanic,  but  of  late  Aryan  languages, 
because  this  appears  to  be  the  oldest  name  by  which  the 
nations  speaking  these  languages  called  themselves.  It  is 
curious,  as  has  been  observed,  that  the  Indo-European  lan¬ 
guages  all  exhibit  the  most  striking  coincidences  in  words 
expressive  of  the  first  peaceful  arts  of  mankind,  while  the 
terms  connected  with  chase  or  war  are  mostly  peculiar. 

Consequently  there  appears  to  me  nothing  improbable  in 
the  people  of  India  having  been  as  early  civilized  as  any  of 
the  nations  I  have  mentioned.  The  physical  features  of  the 
country  are  such  as  to  have  favoured  early  civilization. 
Four  great  ranges  of  mountains,  capable  of  yielding  metal¬ 
lic  treasures,  guard  extensive  plains,  which  are  themselves 
intersected  by  magnificent  rivers.  By  these  fertility  is  dif- 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  341 

fused,  and  communication  carried  even  to  the  most  remote 
parts  of  the  country.  These  rivers  flow,  moreover,  into  oceans 
with  coasts  connected  on  the  south  and  east  with  still  more 
eastern  countries,  and  on  the  west  with  gulfs  which  commu¬ 
nicate  nearly  with  the  south  of  Europe,  or  receive  the  waters 
of  the  western  parts  of  Asia. 

The  climate,  moreover,  is  such  as  to  favour  the  culture 
of  the  soil  and  the  production  of  a  sufficient  abundance  of 
food.  This  would  have  allowed  leisure  to  some  of  the  peo¬ 
ple  to  practise  useful  arts  and  to  pursue  a  scientific  course 
of  observation,  or  a  philosophical  train  of  thought.  Thus, 
in  the  most  southern  parts,  there  being  two  rainy  seasons, 
they  are  able  to  obtain  two  crops  annually  of  tropical  pro¬ 
ducts.  In  the  northern  parts,  during  the  rainy  season,  they 
cultivate  rice,  sugar,  and  cotton ;  while  in  the  cold  weather, 
or  winter  months,  they  produce  wheat  and  barley;  and  in 
both  seasons  a  variety  of  pulses.  The  country  also  affords 
pasturage  for  sheep,  and  grazing  for  cattle.  Thus  they  had 
cereals  and  pulses,  as  well  as  milk  and  butter,  for  food; 
and  though  not  abstaining  entirely  from  animal  food,  they 
had  an  abundance  of  a  sufficiently  mixed  diet.  And  though 
they  seem  also  to  have  early  learned  to  distil  spirits,  they 
seem  to  me  only  to  want  some  beverage,  such  as  coffee  or 
tea,  which  would  afford  a  moderate  yet  refreshing  stimulant. 
This  the  present  culture  of  those  two  useful  products  in 
their  own  country  will  afford  them. 

Though  the  climate  is  such  that  calicoes  and  muslins  are 
sufficient  clothing  for  some  parts  of  the  year,  the  calico  re¬ 
quires  to  be  padded  with  cotton  at  others,  and  their  wools 
to  be  converted  into  blankets. 

Facility  of  obtaining  food  and  clothing  having  afforded 
leisure,  the  Hindoos  early  took  advantage  of  it  for  following 
other  pursuits ;  and  though  I  have  no  intention  of  treating 
of  their  agriculture,  they  seem  early  to  have  ascertained 
the  advantages  of  a  rotation  of  crops,  and  likewise  of  drill- 
husbandry,  for  Theophrastus  mentions  their  cotton  being 
planted  in  lines.  Their  drills  are  simple  and  cheap,  some¬ 
times  convertible  into  harrows  by  removing  the  bamboos 
fixed  into  holes  behind  the  teeth  of  the  harrow. 

That  they  did  not  confine  themselves  to  this,  or  indeed 
to  any  one  subject,  we  have  the  proofs  in  the  variety  of 
29  *  \ 


342  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

writings  winch  we  have  upon  all  subjects, — some  of  them 
still  locked  up  in  the  original  Sanscrit,  but,  unfortunately, 
all  of  somewhat  doubtful  chronology. 

The  Hymns  of  the  Vedas  are  considered  to  have  been  com¬ 
posed  at  least  1200.  or  1300  years  b.  c., — by  Mr.  Colebrooke, 
in  the  fourteenth  century  B.  c.  In  the  Rig  Veda,  which 
has  been  lately  translated  by  Professor  Wilson,  he  observes 
of  these  hymns,  that  they  are  composed  in  a  great  variety  of 
metres )  and  of  the  Hindoos  he  says,  “  At  this  period  a 
pastoral  people  they  might  have  been,  to  some  extent ;  but 
they  Avere  also,  and,  perhaps,  in  a  still  greater  degree,  an 
agricultural  people,  as  is  evidenced  by  their  supplications 
for  abundant  rain,  and  for  the  fertility  of  the  earth,  and  by 
the  mention  of  agricultural  products,  particularly  barley” 
(p.  57).  “  They  were  a  manufacturing  people;  for  the  art 

of  weaving,  the  labours  of  the  carpenter,  and  the  fabrica¬ 
tion  of  golden  and  of  iron  mail,  are  alluded  to ;  and,  what 
is  more  remarkable,  they  were  a  maritime  and  mercantile 
people.” — Rig  Veda  Sanliita.*  Translated  by  H.  II.  Wil¬ 
son. 


*  As  the  religion  of  the  Rig  Veda  differs  so  much  from  what  is 
now  prevalent  in  India,  I  have  heard  it  stated  as  probable  that 
these  hymns  were  not  Avritten  in  India.  But,  looking  to  the  in¬ 
ternal  evidence  of  the  natural  history  subjects  which  are  alluded 
to,  I  can  see  no  grounds  for  this  objection.  Without  alluding  to 
the  elephant  supposed  to  be  mentioned  at  p.  175;  porpoises,  p. 
312,  are  likely  to  have  been  met  with  in  the  Ganges  or  Indus  ;  and 
the  spotted  deer,  pp.  109,  110,  in  every  part  of  India.  Bamboos, 
p.  21,  and  the  Kusa  grass  ( Poa  Cynosuroides),  are  strictly  Indian 
plants.  But  the  Soma ■  plant,  Avhich  with  its  juice  are  so  frequently 
mentioned  ( vide  p.  G,  &c.),  is  so  peculiar  in  India,  with  its  round, 
smooth,  twining,  leafless  stems  and  branches  filled  with  a  mild 
wholesome  acid  juice,  that  it  is  almost  enough  of  itself  to  fix  the 
country  of  many  of  the  hymns.  It  Avas  called  Asclepias  acida  by 
Dr.  Roxburgh ;  but  now  a  genus,  Sarcostemma ,  has  been  formed, 
containing  three  or  four  species,  which  are  all  similar  in  habit.  It 
is  curious  that  these  plants  are  not  met  with  in  the  Gangetic  val¬ 
ley,  but  they  are  found  on  the  dry  Coromandel  coast.  The  species 
described  by  Dr.  Roxburgh  is  found  in  hedges,  but  is  by  no  means 
common  there.  But  in  the  western  states  of  India  it  is  stated  to 
be  found  on  Perim  island,  on  the  rocky  hills  about  Loonee,  on  the 
barren  parts  of  plains  between  Dowlatabad  and  the  Godavery,  and 
throughout  the  Dcccan.  A  similar  species  is  found  in  Arabia. 
Hence  it  would  appear  that,  if  the  Brahmins  made  use  of  this 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OE  INDIA.  343 

The  Institutes  of  Mann  are  considered  to  date  from  800 
B.  c.,  and  the  great  Sanscrit  epics  from  the  commencement 
of  our  era.  These  have  been  followed  by  works  on  gram¬ 
mar,  logic,  and  philosophy.  Of  their  systems  of  philoso¬ 
phy,  Sir  W.  Jones  said:  “We  now  live  among  the  pro¬ 
fessors  of  those  philosophical  tenets,  which  the  Iou:e  and 
Attic  writers  illustrated  with  all  the  beauties  of  their  melo¬ 
dious  language.”  “  The  six  philosophical  schools,  whose 
principles  are  explained  in  the  Dersana  Sastra,  comprise  all 
the  metaphysics  of  the  old  Academy,  the  Stoa,  the  Lyceum  ; 
nor  is  it  possible  to  read  the  Vedanta,  or  the  many  compo¬ 
sitions  in  illustration  of  it,  without  believing  that  Pythago¬ 
ras  and  Plato  derived  their  sublime  theories  from  the  same 
fountain  with  the  sages  of  India.” 

In  the  mathematical  sciences,  the  Hindoos  were  acquainted 
with  the  decimal  notation  by  nine  digits  and  zero.  In  alge¬ 
bra,  Mr.  Colebrooke  found  reason  to  conclude  that  the  Greeks 
were  far  behind  the  Hindoos.  In  geometry  they  were  ac¬ 
quainted  with  the  proposition  that  the  square  on  the  hypo- 
thenuse  of  the  right-angled  triangle  is  equal  to  the  squares 
of  the  sides  containing  the  right  angle.  The  circumference 
of  the  circle  they  divided  into  360  equal  parts,  and  each  of 
these  into  60  others,  and  so  on,  similar  to  our  division  into 
degrees,  minutes,  and  seconds.  The  ratio  of  the  diameter 
to  the  circumference  they  supposed  to  be  as  1  to  3-1416; 
and  though  the  Chinese  required  first  the  Arabs,  and  then 
the  Jesuits,  to  assist  them  in  settling  the  true  number  of 
days  in  the  year,  the  Hindoos  conceived  it  to  consist  of  365 
days,  5  hours,  30  minutes,  40  seconds;  a  determination 

plant,  they  must  have  clone  so  on  the  western  side  of  India,  that  is, 
in  the  countries  now  forming  the  Bombay  Presidency,  and  this  would 
account  for  the  early  Hindoos  having  been  acquainted  with  the  sea. 
It  must  have  been  from  this  side  that  the  spices  of  the  East  first 
reached  Egypt,  and  it  is  on  this  side  that  all  the  great  Cave  temples 
are  situated,  and  some  of  these  may  have  been  early  Brahminical, 
and  not  all  Buddhistical.  It  has  further  been  inferred,  and  ap¬ 
parently  with  good  reason,  that  the  Phoke  plant  met  with  by  Mr 
Elphinstone  all  across  the  desert  in  his  route  from  Delhi  to  Baha- 
wulpoor,  and  again  after  leaving  Mooltan,  is  the  same  sacred  plant. 
Mr.  Griffith  met  with  it  in  abundance  between  Dadur  and  the  Bolan 
Pass,  but  he  mentions  it  under  one  of  its  old  names,  that  of  Apocy - 
tmvh  viminale.  The  Hindoos  must  have  come  through  the  Punjab 


344  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 


which,  (as  Sir  D.  Brewster  says)  differs  only  1  minute  33 
seconds  from  that  which  is  employed  in  the  new  solar  tables 
of  Delambre.* 

It  may  be,  and  indeed  has  been,  supposed  by  some,  that 
the  principles  of  the  above  sciences  may  have  been  obtained 
by  the  Hindoos  from  the  Greeks  through  the  medium  of 
the  Arabs,  or  from  the  Greek  government  of  the  successors 
of  Alexander  in  the  north-western  frontiers  of  India.  But 
the  philosophers  of  Greece  travelled  to  far  Eastern  countries 
at  still  earlier  periods,  in  search  of  information  from  the 
sages  of  the  East  •  and,  as  I  have  already  observed  in  the 
above  Essay,  though  ideas  may  travel  from  north  to  south, 
and  from  west  to  east,  yet  tropical  products  can  only  travel 
in  our  hemisphere  from  south  to  north,  and  I  think  we  may 
infer  that  in  ancient  times  they  could  only  have  been  con¬ 
veyed  from  east  to  west.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore, 
that  the  arts  should  have  originated  or  been  carried  to  a 
considerable  degree  of  perfection,  even  in  ancient  times, 
among  such  a  people,  provided  that  they  had  the  raw  mate¬ 
rials  of  different  kinds  to  work  upon.  That  these  are,  and 
must  always  have  been,  abundant  in  their  country,  is  evi¬ 
dent  from  the  extensive  collection  of  them  which  was  sent 

*  Professor  Wilson,  who  is  well  acquainted  with  the  Hindoos,  has 
pronounced  them  “an  intelligent,  and  interesting,  and  amiable 
people,”  and  also  “an  acute  and  argumentative  people likewise, 
that  “the  Indian  mind,  even  amongst  the  least  instructed,  has  a 
ready  tendency  to  contemplative  reflection,  and  delights  in  subtle 
and  metaphysical  research;”  and  although  the  people  throughout 
the  country  are  at  present  sunk  in  gross  idolatry,  we  might  adduce 
both  the  original  Brahminical  and  the  Buddhistic  religions  as  in¬ 
stances  of  their  contemplative  habits,  as  well  as  of  the  elevated 
ideas  which  they  entertained  of  the  Deity ; — e.g.  “  I  am  like  nothing 
human,  with  which  to  compare  myself.”  The  worshipper  is  di¬ 
rected  “to  adore  God  alone,  know  God  alone,  give  up  all  other  dis¬ 
course,”  and  not  only  “  that  none  but  the  Supreme  Being  is  to  be 
worshipped,”  but  that  “  ministration  to  idols  in  temples  is  held  by 
ancient  authorities  infamous.”  Manu  repeatedly  classes  the  priests 
of  a  temple  with  persons  unfit  to  be  admitted  to  private  sacrifices, 
or  to  be  associated  with  on  any  occasion ;  and  even  still,  the  priests 
who  attend  upon  the  images  in  public  are  considered  as  of  a  scarcely 
reputable  order  by  all  Hindoos  of  learning  and  respectability. — 
See  Wilson  “  On  the  Hindoos,”  and  Maurice  “  On  the  Religions  of 
the  World.” 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  345 


to  the  Exhibition  suited  for  all  the  different  arts  and  manu¬ 
factures.  Some  of  these  must  have  given  them  facilities 
for  practising  some  of  the  arts;  for  instance,  the  hollow 
bamboo  enabled  them  to  construct  the  drill-plough,  funnels, 
and  blow-pipes ;  the  shell  of  the  cocoa-nut  and  of  gourds, 
ladles,  and  vessels  to  hold  fluids ;  the  palmyra  leaf,  materials 
for  mats,  fans,  and  thatching. 

The  arts  and  sciences,  as  known  to  the  Hindoos,  were 
reckoned,  according  to  Abul  Fuzl,  to  be  about  three  hun¬ 
dred  in  number.  Upon  this  Sir  W.  Jones  observes,  that 
as  the  sciences  are  comparatively  few,  we  may  conclude  that 
they  anciently  practised  as  many  useful  arts  as  ourselves. 
The  Silpi  Sastra,  however,  which  is  a  Sanscrit  collection  of 
treatises  on  arts  and  manufactures,  is  said  to  enumerate 
only  sixty-four ;  but  if  these  are  the  leading  arts,  they  must 
each  embrace  a  number  of  subordinate  divisions. 

That  many  of  these  arts  have  long  been  practised  we  have 
a  variety  of  proofs,  as  in  their  rock-cut  temples  and  in  the 
dresses  and  ornaments  of  their  idols,  and  also  that  some  of 
them  have  been  recognised,  and  even  supported,  by  being 
connected  with  the  village  system  of  the  Hindoos.  This 
seems  to  be  proved  by  some  very  interesting  documents,  to 
which  attention  has  been  called  by  Colonel  Sykes,  that  is, 
to  the  characteristic  signatures  of  different  witnesses  to 
leases  and  agreements  about  land.  Thus,  as  they  were 
unable  to  write,  in  place  of  our  universal  x,  each  draws 
the  symbol  of  his  occupation  :  a  plough  by  a  cultivator,  a 
gimlet  by  the  carpenter,  a  pair  of  pincers  by  the  iron-smith, 
the  shopkeeper  a  pair  of  scales,  while  the  banker  signs  with 
the  delicate  bankers'  scales,  though  it  is  probable  he  could 
also  write,  for  we  find  even  those  classes  who  can  usually 
write  signing  in  the  same  way;  for  instance,  the  priest  with 
a  rosary  of  beads,  and  the  village  astrologer  with  an  almanac. 
These  probably  used  symbols  that  might  be  intelligible  to 
the  others  who  could  not  write. 

Indeed,  it  appears  to  me  that  it  has  been  owing  in  a 
great  measure  to  the  municipal  institutions,  that  is,  to  the 
village  system  of  the  Hindoos,  that  we  are  to  ascribe  the 
permanence  of  the  arts  in  India;  for  so  often  as  the  storm 
of  conquest  has  swept  over  the  plains  of  India,  we  yet  see 
the  arts  continuing  to  flourish  in  the  very  places  where  they 


B46  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

had  attained  their  pristine  excellence.  Something  of  this 
is  no  doubt  due  to  the  system  of  castes,  but  also  to  the 
Hindoos  bending  like  willows  to  the  storm,  and  to  their 
returning  to  the  village  lands,  in  which  so  many  have  a 
share,  when  it  has  passed  over.  These,  of  course,  drew  to 
them  many  of  those  trades  which  depended  upon  them  for 
support. 

In  proceeding  to  make  observations  on  the  arts  and 
manufactures  of  India,  as  shown  at  the  Exhibition,  it  is,  in 
the  first  place,  necessary  to  inquire  whether  the  specimens 
exhibited  were  the  ordinary  products  of  the  country,  or 
were  specially  prepared  for  the  Exhibition.  From  the 
shortness  of  the  time  between  the  announcement  and  the 
opening  of  the  late  Exhibition, — for  the  time,  for  so  dis¬ 
tant  a  country  as  India,  was  very  short, — few  things  could 
be  prepared  with  the  care  that  might  have  been  bestowed 
if  more  time  had  been  allowed:  and  yet  very  little  time  was 
lost.  Our  illustrious  President  having  finally  determined 
on  the  nature  and  objects  to  be  embraced  within  the  pro¬ 
posed  Exhibition,  in  the  middle  of  July  1849,  the  Court 
of  Directors  of  the  East  India  Company  were  among  the 
first,  if  not  the  very  first,  of  the  public  bodies  of  this  coun¬ 
try  who  determined  to  support  the  undertaking,  as  they  did 
this  in  August  1849.  I  was  directed  to  prepare  a  list  of 
the  things  procurable  in  India,  which  were  suitable  to  the 
Exhibition.  This  was  done  in  conformity  to  the  compre¬ 
hensive  views  which  had  been  promulgated.  Lithographed 
copies  of  the  lists  which  had  been  prepared  were  sent  out 
by  the  mail  of  the  7th  of  January,  1850,  and  were  issued 
from  the  Government  House  at  Calcutta  on  the  22d  of 
February,  that  is,  the  day  after  the  u  Classified  Lists  of 
Objects  which  may  be  admitted  into  the  Exhibition”  were 
promulgated  from  the  Palace  of  Westminster. 

As  the  arrangement  of  the  arts  in  the  jurors’  lists  and 
catalogues  of  the  Great  Exhibition,  though  productive  of 
great  convenience,  is  not  so  well  suited  for  general  observa¬ 
tions,  in  consequence  of  some  which  are  closely  allied  to 
each  other  in  their  scientific  principles  being  separated  from 
each  other,  I  propose  treating  of  the  arts  and  manufactures 
of  India  under  the  heads  of — 1.  Chemical  Arts;  2.  Textile 
Arts;  3.  Manual  and  Mechanical  Arts ;  4.  Fine  Arts. 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  347 


1.  Chemical  Arts. 

The  arts  which  are  strictly  chemical  may  be  supposed  to 
have  originated  only  ,  in  a  country  where  the  science  of 
chemistry  had  made  some  advance,  but  the  Hindoos  are  not 
usually  supposed  to  have  paid  any  attention  to  this  subject. 
The  Egyptians  arc  thought  to  have  practised,  and  the  Arabs 
are  acknowledged  to  have  been  the  first  who  wrote  on  the 
subject;  but  their  earliest  chemist,  G-eber,  acknowledges 
that  he  had  only  abridged  the  information  to  be  found  in 
the  books  of  ancient  philosophers.  That  the  Hindoos  were 
among  these,  I  have  attempted  to  prove  in  a  separate  work,* 
where  I  have  shown  the  probability  of  the  Arabs  having 
obtained  much  of  their  information  from  Sanscrit  works, 
still  in  existence. 

Chemistry,  it  has  been  inferred,  must  have  originated 
in  alchemy ;  but  it  appears  to  me  that  it  must  have  origin¬ 
ated  wherever  the  arts  began  to  be  practised  :  for  in  seeing 
the  wonderful  changes  which  take  place  during  the  action 
of  heat,  and  some  of  the  most  common  re-agents,  people  may 
easily  have  been  led  to  believe  even  in  the  transmutation 
of  metals. 

We  know  from  a  variety  of  sources,  that  the  Hindoos 
have  long  been  acquainted  with  many  chemical  substances, 
as  well  as  that  they  have  practised  many  chemical  arts. 
The  ordinary  metals,  including  tin,  they  have  long  known, 
and  have  prepared  the  oxides  of  iron,  lead,  tin,  and  zinc. 
The  ashes  of  plants  in  a  country  of  wood  fires,  led  them  to 
the  discovery  of  potash.  Soda  is  found  effloresced  on  the 
soil,  as  well  as  crystallized  on  the  margins  of  some  of  their 
lakes.  The  Arabic  name,  sagimen,  indeed,  seems  to  be 
derived  from  the  Hindoo  saji-noon,  that  is,  sajji,  or  soda-salt. 
Nitre  must  have  been  produced  then,  as  now,  in  their  soil, 
and  borax  imported  from  Tibet,  while  sal-ammoniac  must 
have  been  produced  ever  since  they  made  bricks,  as  they 
now  do.  Alum  they  obtain  by  throwing  potash  on  alum 
slate,  which  has  been  some  time  exposed  to  the  air.  Among 
the  salts  of  the  metals,  we  find  the  sulphates  of  copper,  of 

*  “Essay  on  the  Antiquity  of  Hindoo  Medicine.” 


348  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

zinc,  and  of  iron,  the  acetates  of  copper  and  of  iron,  and  the 
carbonates  of  lead  and  of  iron.  They  seem,  also,  to  have 
been  long  acquainted  with  the  three  mineral  acids,  for  mak¬ 
ing  which  they  have  peculiar  formulae,  while  their  lemons 
and  limes  gave  them  citric,  and  the  gram-plant  ( Cicer  arie- 
tinum )  the  oxalic  acid. 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  the  Hindoos  possessed  many 
chemical  substances,  and  that  they  prepared  others ;  hence 
we  might  infer  that  they  may  have  practised  some  of  the 
chemical  arts,  as,  indeed,  we  know  they  must  have  done 
from  other  sources.  But  this  would  equally  prove  that  they 
must  have  possessed  various  chemical  substances,  whence¬ 
soever  obtained. 

Pharmaceutical  Products. — In  the  present  state  of  the 
chemical  arts,  advanced  as  they  have  been  by  the  cultivation 
of  the  science  in  Europe,  it  was  not  to  be  expected  that  such 
products  as  are  obtained  by  the  natives  of  India,  by  their 
original  and  primitive  processes,  could  be  sent  to  the  Exhi¬ 
bition  with  any  hope  of  attracting  attention.  Few,  therefore, 
have  been  sent  from  the  bazaars  of  India,  except  as  curiosi¬ 
ties.  But  there  are  others,  prepared  under  European  su¬ 
perintendence  for  the  use  of  the  public  service,  which  are 
excellent  in  quality ;  and  I  know  not  why  India  might  not 
under  such  superintendence  prepare  some  that  might  become 
articles  of  commerce  :  such,  for  instance,  as  benzoic  and 
citric  acids,  the  salts  of  morphia,  narcotine  as  an  efficient 
substitute  for  quinine  in  a  number  of  cases  ;  with  some  ex¬ 
tracts  and  tinctures  of  substances  which  lose  their  effect  by 
transmission  and  the  influence  of  physical  agents. 

The  sulphate  of  magnesia  is  interesting  as  prepared  from 
magnesite,  or  the  natural  carbonate  of  magnesia  of  the  Pen¬ 
insula. 

Metallurgy. — Though  it  is  difficult  to  understand  how  a 
primitive  people  could  have  overcome  the  difficulties  of 
smelting  iron  and  of  forging  steel,  yet  as  we  know  from  a 
variety  of  sources  that  the  Hindoos  have  long  known  both, 
they  must  have  overcome  the  difficulties  which  have  stopped 
others.  But  it  is  hardly  less  wonderful  to  see  a  native  with 
no  other  tools  than  his  hatchet  and  his  hands  proceed  to 
smelt  iron,  which  he  will  convert  into  steel  capable  of  com¬ 
peting  with  the  best  prepared  in  Europe.  For  this  the 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  349 

prevalence  of  the  black  oxicle  of  iron,  in  the  state  of  iron 
sand,  and  the  common  use  of  charcoal  as  a  fuel,  give  him 
some  facilities,  while  he  prepares  a  furnace  with  clay,  and 
makes  bellows  with  the  leaves  of  the  forest.  [Of  this  last, 
a  specimen  was  shown  from  the  hills  of  Mirzapore.] 

Iron  and  steel,  though  not  known  in  the  earliest  periods 
of  the  history  of  some  of  the  civilized  nations  of  antiquity, 
have  yet  been  known  from  very  early  periods.  Iron  is  men¬ 
tioned  as  being  applied  to  a  variety  of  purposes  in  the 
earliest  chapters  of  the  Bible.  But  as  it  is  too  soft  to  be 
used  for  all  the  purposes  stated,  it  has  been  justly  inferred 
that  they  must  have  known  of  modes  of  hardening  it,  and 
inference  is  made  to  that  kind  which  is  called  “  northern 
iron.”  But  as  the  term  of  “northern”  is  also  applied  to 
the  roads  of  commerce  and  of  conquest  from  the  East,  be¬ 
cause  these  entered  Judaea  by  the  north,  that  is  by  way 
of  Damascus  and  Syria,  so  Mr.  Aikin  looks  to  the  countries 
east  of  Babylonia  as  those  where  this  hard  iron  or  steel  was 
produced  •  and  this  is  confirmed  by  the  passage  in  Ezekiel, 
where  Dan  and  Javan  are  described  as  bringing  “  bright 
iron,  cassia,  and  calamus,”  which  are  all  Indian  products, 
to  Tyre. 

The  Hebrew  name  of  steel,  paldah ,  is  evidently  the  same 
word  as  the  Arabic  foulad,  which  is  also  in  use  in  Persia, 
where  Indian  steel  is  known  by  the  name  of  foulad-i-hind. 
Even  now  the  best  Persian  swords  are  made  with  steel  im¬ 
ported  from  India,  and  Mr.  Wilkinson  has  ascribed  the  mark¬ 
ings  on  the  famed  Damascus  blades  to  their  having  been 
made  with  Indian  steel,  which  has  long  formed  an  article 
of  trade  from  Bombay  to  the  Persian  Gulf. 

Mr.  Heath,  at  one  time  the  managing  director  of  the  In¬ 
dia  Iron  and  Steel  Company,  and  whose  steel  obtained  a 
prize  at  the  Exhibition,  even  says,  “We  can  hardly  doubt, 
that  the  tools  with  which  the  Egyptians  covered  their  obe¬ 
lisks  and  temples  of  porphyry  and  syenite  with  hieroglyphics, 
were  made  of  Indian  steel.”  There  is  no  doubt,  that  the 
ancient  Indian  temples  and  fortresses  were  carved  with  steel 
instruments,  as  they  are  at  the  present  day.  That  they 
made  steel  which  was  highly  valued  in  the  time  of  Alex¬ 
ander  the  Great,  is  evident  from  Porus  making  him  a  present 
of  about  thirty  pounds  of  steel ;  and  still  earlier,  in  the  Big 
30 


350  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

Veda,  we  read  of  chariots  armed  with  iron  weapons,  of  coa/ts- 
of-mail,  arms  and  tools  of  different  kinds,  and  of  bright-edged 
hatchets. 

Various  descriptions  of  the  manufacture  of  iron  and  steel 
have  been  given  by  observers  in  different  parts  of  India; 
all  of  which  bear  a  considerable  resemblance  to  each  other. 
Some  of  these  Mr.  Aikin  carefully  noticed  when  he  lec¬ 
tured  on  this  subject  in  this  very  place ;  but  Mr.  Heath 
has,  I  think,  given  the  best  explanation  of  the  Indian  pro¬ 
cesses. 

Mr.  Heath  describes  the  ore  used  as  the  magnetic  oxide 
of  iron,  consisting  of  seventy-two  per  cent,  of  iron  with 
twenty-eight  of  oxygen,  combined  with  quartz,  in  the  pro¬ 
portion  of  fifty-two  of  oxide  to  forty-eight  of  quartz.  It  is 
prepared  by  stamping,  and  then  separating  the  quartz  by 
washing  or  winnowing.  The  furnace  is  built  of  clay  alone, 
from  three  to  five  feet  high,  and  pear-shaped ;  the  bellows 
is  formed  of  two  goat-skins,  with  a  bamboo  nozzle,  ending 
in  a  clay  pipe.  The  fuel  is  charcoal,  upon  which  the  ore  is 
laid,  without  flux  ;  the  bellows  are  plied  for  four  hours,  when 
the  ore  will  be  found  to  be  reduced :  it  is  taken  out,  and 
while  yet  red-hot,  it  is  cut  through  with  a  hatchet,  and  sold 
to  the  blacksmiths,  who  forge  it  into  bars  and  convert  it 
into  steel.  In  an  old  account  which  I  possess,  written  on 
the  spot,  apparently  in  Mysore,  it  is  said,  that  one  pound 
and  a  half  of  iron  is  heated  lower  than  red  heat,  and  then 
beaten  for  about  three  minutes  with  a  stone  hammer  on  a 
stone  anvil.  Experience  having  taught  them,  they  say,  that 
instruments  of  iron  ruin  the  process.  Mr.  Heath  says  the 
iron  is  forged  by  repeated  hammering,  until  it  forms  an  ap¬ 
parently  unpromising  bar  of  iron,  from  which  an  English 
manufacturer  of  steel  would  turn  with  contempt,  but  which 
the  Hindoo  converts  into  cast  steel  of  the  very  best  quality. 
To  effect  this  he  cuts  it  into  small  pieces,  of  which  he  puts 
a  pound,  more  or  less,  into  a  crucible,  with  dried  wood  of 
the  Cassia  auriculata,  and  a  few  green  leaves  of  Asclepias 
gig antea ;  or,  where  that  is  not  to  be  had,  of  the  Convol¬ 
vulus  laurifolia.  The  object  of  this  is  to  furnish  carbon  to 
the  iron. 

As  soon  as  the  clay  used  to  stop  the  mouths  of  the  cru¬ 
cibles  is  dry,  they  arc  built  up  in  the  form  of  an  arch  in  a. 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  351 

small  furnace,  charcoal  is  heaped  over  them,  and  the  blast 
kept  up  without  intermission  for  about  two  hours  and  a 
half,  when  it  is  stopped,  and  the  process  considered  com¬ 
plete.  The  furnace  contains  from  twenty  to  twenty-four 
crucibles.  The  crucibles  are  next  removed  from  the  fur¬ 
nace  and  allowed  to  cool;  they  are  then  broken,  and  the 
steel  taken  out.  The  crucibles  are  formed  of  a  red  loam, 
which  is  very  refractory,  mixed  writh  a  large  quantity  of 
charred  husk  of  rice. 

Mr.  Heath,  after  observing  on  the  astonishing  fact  of 
the  Hindoos  having  discovered  the  way  of  making  steel  at 
such  early  periods,  refers  to  Mr.  Mushet’s  discovery  of  con¬ 
verting  iron  into  cast  steel  by  fusing  it  in  a  close  vessel,  in 
contact  with  any  substance  yielding  carbonaceous  matter, 
and  then  to  that  of  Mr.  Mackintosh,  of  converting  iron  into 
steel,  by  exposing  it  to  the  action  of  carburetted  hydrogen 
gas  in  a  close  vessel  at  a  very  high  temperature,  by  which 
means  the  process  of  conversion  is  completed  in  a  few  hours; 
while  by  the  old  method  it  was  the  work  of  from  fourteen 
to  twenty  days.  Mr.  H.  observes  : — 

“Now,  it  appears  to  me  that  the  Indian  process  com¬ 
bines  the  principles  of  both  the  above  described  methods : 
on  elevating  the  temperature  of  the  crucible  containing  pure 
iron  and  dry  wood,  and  green  leaves,  an  abundant  evolution 
of  carburetted  hydrogen  gas  would  take  place  from  the 
vegetable  matter,  and  as  its  escape  would  be  prevented  by 
the  luting  at  the  mouth  of  the  crucible,  it  would  be  retained 
in  contact  with  the  iron,  which  at  a  high  temperature  ap¬ 
pears  from  Mr.  Mackintosh’s  process  to  have  a  much  greater 
affinity  for  gaseous  than  for  concrete  carbon  :  this  would 
greatly  shorten  the  operation,  and  probably  at  a  much  lower 
temperature  than  even  the  iron  in  contact  with  charcoal 
powder.  In  no  other  way  can  I  account  for  the  fact  that 
iron  is  converted  into  cast  steel  by  the  natives  of  India  in 
two  hours  and  a  half,  with  an  application  of  heat  that  in 
this  country  would  be  considered  quite  inadequate  to  pro¬ 
duce  such  an  effect ;  while  at  Sheffield  it  requires  at  least 
four  hours  to  melt  blistered  steel  in  wind  furnaces  of  the 
best  construction,  although  the  crucibles  in  which  the  steel 
is  melted  are  at  a  white  heat  when  the  metal  is  put  into 


352  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

them,  and  in  the  Indian  process  the  crucibles  are  put  into 
the  furnace  quite  cold.” 

By  such  simple  methods  the  Hindoo  prepared  steel,  which 
has  long  formed  an  article  of  commerce  from  the  west  of 
India  to  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  there  is  every  probability  of 
its  being  used  in  larger  quantities  if  it  were  easily  procur¬ 
able  in  sufficient  quantities,  as  manufacturers  here  have 
expressed  a  desire  to  employ  it.  In  the  arms  which  we 
have  had  exhibited,  as  well  as  in  the  edges  and  points  of 
the  tools,  we  see  its  admirable  fitness  for  the  fabrication  of 
all  cutting  instruments. 

Among  the  Arms  we  have  a  display  of  such  as  would 
appear  to  belong  to  different  ages  of  the  world,  but  which 
are  all  actually  in  use  in  India  at  the  present  day )  such  as 
chain  and  scale  armour,  both  for  man  and  horse,  helmets 
and  shields,  spears,  battle-axes,  bows  and  arrows,  with  dag¬ 
gers  in  every  variety.  Some  of  these  display  in  a  remark¬ 
able  manner  their  skill  as  cutlers ;  as,  for  instance,  the 
sword  formed  of  two  blades,  and  another  in  which  pearls 
are  let  into  the  centre  of  its  blade )  and  still  more  in  the 
daggers  contained  one  within  another,  all  of  hard  steel,  with 
the  line  of  junction  so  beautifully  welded  as  to  be  hardly 
perceptible  even  with  a  magnifier — so  also  in  the  dagger, 
which  on  striking  separates  into  five  blades,  as  these  are 
most  nicely  brought  into  juxtaposition.  The  twisting  of 
gun-barrels  and  the  damasks  of  their  blades  of  steel  have 
been  imitated  in  all  countries.  These  beautiful  specimens 
have  been  sent  chiefly  by  the  native  princes  of  the  north¬ 
west  of  India  from  Putteala  to  Scinde,  as  well  as  from  the 
central  government  of  Hyderabad. 

The  other  metal  which  it  seems  necessary  to  mention  is 
tin,  because  connected  with  so  many  metallurgical  com¬ 
pounds,  and  because  by  many  it  has  been  supposed  that  this 
country  was  the  only  source  from  which  that  metal  was 
obtained  in  ancient  times.  But  it  exists  in  large  quantities 
in  the  Malayan  Peninsula,  as  well  as  in  Banca,  Borneo,  and 
many  other  islands.  Tin,  we  know,  was  employed  by  the 
Egyptians,  because  it  forms  an  ingredient  in  some  of  their 
metallic  compounds  ;  but  its  use  has  long  been  familiar  to 
the  Hindoos  for  forming  various  metallurgical  compounds, 
as  well  as  for  tinning  copper.  As  it  occurs  as  an  oxide, 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  353 

and  near  the  surface  of  the  soil  in  large  quantities,  and  re¬ 
quires  only  charcoal  for  reducing  it,  we  may  suppose  it 
would  easily  have  been  discovered  by  a  people  who  forged 
iron  and  made  steel.  As  the  nations  of  antiquity  employed 
tin  for  hardening  copper,  and  used  the  alloy  for  forming 
swords  and  spear-heads,  so  the  natives  of  India  form  various 
compounds  with  copper  and  tin,  which  are  remarkable  for 
their  hardness,  and  for  the  fine  sounds  which  they  emit  on 
being  struck.  I)r.  Wight  lately  found  that  an  alloy  of  ten 
grains  of  copper  to  two  and  a  half  grains  of  tin  was  the  best 
mixture  which  a  native  made  in  his  presence.  British 
spear-heads  are  found  to  consist  of  one  of  tin  to  ten  of  copper, 
and  a  knife,  ot  one  of  tin  to  seven  and  a  half  of  copper. 
.  Mr.  Aikin,  in  his  experiments,  found  that  eight  grains  of 
copper  to  one  of  tin  formed  the  hardest  alloy. 

Alloys.  The  natives  of  India  are  acquainted  with  a  va¬ 
riety  of  alloys  for  making  utensils  and  even  ornaments,  as 
with  copper  and  zinc,  tin  and  lead,  besides  being  great 
workers  in  copper  and  brass  for  the  various  utensils  employed 
for  domestic  purposes,  and  of  which  so  large  a  variety  was 
sent  from  different  parts  of  India. 

Bidery. — A  metallurgical  compound  of  considerable  in¬ 
terest  is  that  which  has  been  named  Bidery,  from  Bider,  a 
city  situated  about  sixty  miles  to  the  north-west  of  Hyder¬ 
abad,  and  of  which  we  have  had  a  variety  of  articles  at  the 
Exhibition.  Most  of  these  have  been  greatly  admired  for 
the  elegance  of  their  form,  as  well  as  for  the  gracefulness 
of  the  patterns  with  which  their  surface  is  engraved. 
I  hough  the  groundwork  of  this  composition  appears  of  a 
blackish  colour,  its  natural  colour  is  that  of  pewter  or  of 
zinc.  Dr.  Ileyne  informs  us  that  it  is  composed  of  copper 
sixteen  ounces,  lead  four  ounces,  tin  two  ounces.  These 
are  melted  together,  and  to  every  three  ounces  of  the  alloy 
sixteen  ounces  of  spelter,  that  is  of  zinc,  is  added,  when 
the  alloy  is  melted  for  use.  But  to  give  the  whole  the 
black  colour  which  is  esteemed,  probably  from  bringing  out 
the  pattern,  it  is  dipped  into  a  solution  of  sal-ammoniac, 
saltpetre,  common  salt,  and  blue  vitriol. 

Dr.  B.  Hamilton  saw  of  zinc  12,360  grains,  copper  460 
grains,  and  lead  414  grains,  melted  together,  and  a  mixture 
of  resin  and  beeswax  introduced  into  the  crucible  to  nre- 
30  *  1 


354  TFIE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

vent  calcination.  It  was  then  poured  into  a  mould  made 
of  baked  clay,  and  the  article  handed  over  to  be  turned  in 
a  lathe.  Artists  then  inlay  flowers  or  other  ornaments  of 
silver  or  of  gold.  They  first  rub  it  over  with  sulphate  of 
copper  and  water,  which  gives  the  surface  a  blackish  colour, 
and  enables  the  artist  more  easily  to  distinguish  the  figure 
which  he  draws, — this  he  does  with  a  sharp-pointed  instru¬ 
ment  of  steel,  and  cuts  it  with  small  chisels  of  various 
shapes,  and  then  with  a  hammer  and  punch  fills  the  cavities 
with  small  plates  of  silver,  which  adhere  firmly  to  the 
Bidery.  It  is  then  polished  and  stained  as  described  above. 
The  various  articles  made  from  it  are  vases,  wash-hand 
basins  and  ewers,  hookah-bottoms,  spittoons,  cups  and 
dishes,  small  boxes  and  weights.  These  are  inlaid  com¬ 
monly  with  silver,  but  sometimes  with  gold.  The  patterns 
are  usually  as  much  to  be  admired  as  the  forms  of  the  ves¬ 
sels.  Though  usually  called  Bidery,  sometimes  Vidry,  it  is 
also  manufactured  at  other  places.  Specimens  have  been 
sent  both  from  Bider  and  Aurangabad,  in  the  Nizam’s  ter¬ 
ritories,  from  his  Highness  the  Nizam  and  his  minister,  Siraj- 
ool-Moolk,  which  are  particularly  beautiful.  Some  also 
from  north-west  India,  and  from  Bengal ;  the  latter,  how¬ 
ever,  was  inferior  to  the  others  in  workmanship.  Bidery 
does  not  rust,  yields  little  to  the  hammer,  and  breaks  only 
when  violently  beaten.  According  to  Dr.  Hamilton  it  is 
not  near  so  fusible  as  zinc  or  tin,  but  melts  more  easily  than 
copper. 

Glass. — Glass  is  one  of  those  discoveries  which  could 
hardly  escape  being  made  by  any  people  who  employed  fur¬ 
naces  to  reduce  metallic  oxides;  for  the  necessary  ingredients 
must  often  have  been  present,  aud  the  heat  was  sufficient. 
Beckmann  lias  observed,  that  the  discovery  of  coloured 
glass  must  have  followed  very  soon  that  of  making  glass 
itself.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  coloured  glass  was 
made  previous  to  colourless  glass.  For  it  is  difficult  to  find 
materials  pure  enough  to  make  good  glass,  and  it  would  be 
some  time  before  the  original  makers  would  find  out  the 
causes  of  discolouration. 

The  natives  of  India  seem  to  have  been  long  acquainted 
with  making  different  ornaments  of  glass  :  for  instance, 
armlets  and  anklets,  while  rings  of  glass  form  a  part  of 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  355 

their  warping  reels.  Small  glass  bottles  are  also  made;  but 
all  that  I  have  seen  are  of  a  more  or  less  greenish  colour. 
The  green  is  called  Jcanch,  and  the  purer  glass,  sisi.  It  is 
probable  that  the  extensive  diffusion  of  oxide  of  iron  in  the 
Indian  soil,  which  may  have  led  to  the  discovery  of  iron, 
has  prevented  the  making  both  of  good  glass  and  of  good 
pottery.  That  this  is  not  incompatible  with  a  knowledge  of 
the  method  of  making  imitation  gems,  seems  proved  by  the 
same  having  been  the  case  in  the  time  of  Pliny ;  who  states 
that  great  value  was  set  upon  glass  quite  free  from  colour, 
which  was  called  crystal.  He  also  mentions  artificial  hya¬ 
cinths,  sapphires,  and  all  kinds  of  black  glass;  and  we 
know  that  the  glass-houses  of  Alexandria  were  celebrated 
among  the  ancients. 

One  of  the  simplest  processes  for  making  glass  is  that 
practised  in  the  district  of  Behar.  The  saline  efflorescence 
of  the  soil,  which  is  an  impure  carbonate  of  soda,  is  col¬ 
lected  and  thrown  into  a  cistern  lined  with  clay.  This  is 
then  filled  with  water,  which  is  afterwards  allowed  to  evapo¬ 
rate.  When  dry,  the  bottom  of  the  cistern  is  found  covered 
with  a  thick  saline  crust,  the  earth  which  was  intermixed 
having  subsided  before  the  salt  began  to  crystallize.  This 
soda  makes  glass  without  any  addition,  as  it  still  contains  a 
sufficient  portion  of  siliceous  matter.  They  make  blackish 
and  greenish  glass:  a  bright  grass-green  is  made  by  ad¬ 
ditions  of  oxide  of  copper;  and  a  blue  glass  by  the  addi¬ 
tion  of  rung.  In  Mysore  the  process  is  more  elaborate. 
Powdered  white  quartz,  one  part,  being  mixed  with  prepared 
soda,  six  parts,  is  filled  into  a  crucible  capable  of  containing 
5J  Winchester  gallons.  About  fifty  of  these  crucibles  are 
placed  in  a  furnace,  and  the  fire  kept  up  for  five  days,  when 
a  frit  is  produced,  with  which  they  make  a  black,  green, 
red,  blue,  and  yellow  glass,  by  means  of  additions  of  oxide 
of  copper,  of  an  ore  called  kemudu,  and  of  a  blue  substance 
called  runga.  What  these  are  I  have  not  been  able  to  dis¬ 
cover.  Though  the  making  of  glass  has  made  but  little  ad¬ 
vance  in  India,  the  natives  work  up  broken  English  glass 
even  into  barometer  and  thermometer  tubes,  &c.  Glass 
globes,  silvered  in  the  inside,  were  sent  from  Delhi,  but  un¬ 
fortunately  got  broken  in  the  transmission.  The  mode  of 
effecting  this  silvering  is  not  mentioned,  but  an  amalgam 


356  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

of  quicksilver  is  probably  employed,  as,  on  the  application 
of  moderate  heat,  the  silvering  becomes  dissipated.  An 
art  similar  to  this  has  of  late  years  been  discovered  in  this 
country. 

Enamelling. — Enamelling,  or  the  art  of  fixing  colours  by 
melting  in  fire,  is  of  very  ancient  date  :  it  was  practised  by 
the  Egyptians,  and  carried  to  a  high  degree  of  perfection 
in  Persia.  The  art  is  known  in  every  part  of  India,  And 
some  exquisite  specimens  were  sent  to  the  Exhibition,  both 
from  Central  and  from  North-western  India.  It  is  chiefly 
employed  in  ornamenting  arms  and  jewellery,  not  only  in 
gold,  but  also  in  silver. 

Enamels  being  vitrifiable  substances,  to  which  peculiar 
colours  are  given,  we  may  compare  the  Indian  with  the 
European  methods  of  making  enamel.  In  general,  ten  parts 
of  lead  and  three  parts  of  tin  are  oxidized  by  continued  heat 
and  exposure  to  air.  To  the  mixed  oxides  add  ten  parts  of 
powdered  quartz,  and  ten  parts  of  common  salt,  and  melt 
in  crucibles.  Thus  is  obtained  a  white  enamel,  and  the 
basis  of  coloured  enamel,  metallic  oxides  being  added.  The 
oxide  of  lead  or  of  antimony  produces  a  yellow  enamel :  reds 
are  obtained  by  a  mixture  of  the  oxides  of  gold  and  iron. 
The  oxides  of  copper,  cobalt,  and  iron,  give  greens,  violets, 
and  blues )  and  a  variety  of  intermediate  colours  by  mix¬ 
tures.  The  workmen  of  Behar  are  stated  to  make  two 
enamels,  which  are  applied  to  the  surface  of  some  of  the 
rings.  One  is  yellow :  five  parts  of  lead  are  melted  in  a 
shallow  crucible,  and  to  these  is  added  one  part  of  tin ;  and 
the  alloy  is  calcined  for  four  or  five  hours.  It  is  then  heated 
to  redness  in  the  crucible  of  the  glass-furnace.  One  part 
of  white  quartz  is  next  added,  and  the  mass  stirred  for 
about  three  hours.  It  is  then  taken  out  with  a  ladle,  poured 
out  on  a  smooth  stone  or  iron,  and  cooled  in  water.  They 
then  take  one  part  of  their  palest  green  glass,  and  add 
a  fourth  part  of  the  other  materials,  to  make  the  yellow 
enamel. 

The  green  enamel  is  made  in  the  same  manner ;  and  to 
the  melted  glass  is  added,  not  only  the  prepared  lead  and 
tin,  but  a  small  portion  of  the  black  oxide  of  copper. 

In  Mysore  they  make  a  bright  yellow  enamel,  by  first 
calcining  five  parts  of  lead  and  one  of  tin,  then  adding  one 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  357 

part  of  zinc,  calcined  in  a  separate  crucible.  When  these 
begin  to  adhere  they  are  powdered  in  a  mortar.  When  the 
maker  of  glass  rings  is  at  work,  he  melts  some  of  this 
powder,  and  while  the  ring  is  hot,  with  an  irou  rod  applies 
some  of  it  (the  powder)  to  the  surface  of  the  glass. 

Pottery ,  Encaustic  Tiles,  Cements. — The  art  of  fashion¬ 
ing  clay  into  vessels  of  a  variety  of  shapes,  and  hardening 
it  by  the  action  of  heat,  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  of  the 
arts.  Fragments  of  pottery  are  everywhere  found  among 
the  ancient  cities  of  India,  as  in  those  of  other  parts  of  the 
world ;  pottery,  as  Brogniart  has  remarked,  affording  the 
best  record  of  the  early  ages  of  man,  as  bones  do  of  the 
earth. 

So  little  is  known  of  Indian  pottery,  that  it  is  usually 
described  as  being  hemispherical  in  shape.  Some  of  it  is 
no  doubt  so,  for  the  convenience  of  being  carried  on  the 
head ;  but  it  is  a  fact,  that  in  the  recent  exhibition  of  In¬ 
dian  pottery,  numbers  of  the  best  judges  have  greatly  ad¬ 
mired  its  elegant,  even  classical  gracefulness  of  form.  It  is 
also  stated  to  be  black,  and  red,  or  yellowish.  The  clays 
which  are  generally  employed  in  the  more  populous  parts 
of  the  country,  Dr.  O’Shaughnessy  has  observed,  “  contain 
so  much  oxide  of  iron  and  carbonate  of  lime  that  the  vessels 
melt  into  a  slag  at  a  temperature  little  above  that  of  red¬ 
ness.”  “  Deposits  of  a  black  stiff  clay,  containing  much 
vegetable  matter,  occur  in  some  districts;  vessels  made  with 
it  sustain  a  higher  temperature.”  Clays  capable  of  bearing 
great  degrees  of  heat  have,  however,  been  discovered  in  dif¬ 
ferent  parts  of  India.  As  one  great  object  is  to  have  porous 
vessels  for  cooling  water,  the  ordinary  clays  answer  suffi¬ 
ciently  well  for  this  purpose ;  and  some  of  the  forms,  as  that 
of  the  tortoise-shaped,  expose  a  large  surface  to  the  air.  The 
Hindoos,  moreover,  never  use  a  vessel  the  second  time,  so 
no  great  expense  will  be  incurred  by  them ;  thus  encou¬ 
ragement  is  wanting  to  improve  the  nature  of  their  pottery. 
But  very  successful  experiments  have  been  made  to  make 
improved  pottery  in  India,  as  by  Mr.  Julius  Jeffreys,  the 
ingenious  inventor  of  the  respirator,  who  succeeded  in  making 
stoneware  soda-water  bottles,  crucibles,  fire-bricks,  tiles,  &c., 
which  seem  to  have  been  glazed  by  the  silica  uniting  with 
the  alkaline  ashes  of  the  furnace.  Dr.  O’Shaughnessy  greatly 


858  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 


improved  the  pottery  in  use  in  the  dispensary  of  Calcutta, 
and  which  he  glazed  with  the  borate  of  lime.  The  glazed 
pottery  of  Pegu,  of  which  two  very  large  jars  were  sent,  has 
long  been  known  for  its  glaze  not  being  affected  by  acids. 
Dr.  Hunter  lias  sent  some  excellent  specimens  of  pottery 
from  the  School  of  Arts  at  Madras,  and  for  which  a  prize 
has  been  awarded. 

The  ancient  potter’s  wheel  is  the  instrument  with  which 
the  Hindoo  works;  and  while  it  revolves,  with  the  aid  of 
his  naked  hands  he  fashions  vessels  of  elegant  forms,  many 
of  which  have  been  admired  as  being  of  classical  shapes,  and 
some  would  appear  almost  as  if  they  were  of  Etruscan  ori¬ 
gin  :  but  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  Hindoos  have 
ever  had  anything  but  their  own  unerring  taste  to  guide 
them.  This  beauty  of  form  is  equally  conspicuous  in  the 
pottery  of  Sewan  near  Patna,  as  in  that  of  Azimgurh  or  of 
Ahmedabad,  of  Mirzapore,  or  of  Moradabad. 

Some  of  it  is  remarkable,  also,  for  its  extreme  thinness 
and  lightness,  showing  the  great  skill  of  the  artist,  and 
making  it  difficult  to  understand  how  it  kept  its  shape  when 
in  a  plastic  state,  as  I  cannot  learn  that  the  turning-lathe  is 
used  to  give  a  finish  to  any  of  the  articles.  The  painted 
pottery  of  Kotah,  and  the  gilt  pottery  of  Amroha,  have  also 
been  admired.  The  handles  and  the  various  ornaments  of 
the  Ahmedabad  pottery  are  no  doubt  attached,  as  in  Europe, 
by  means  of  slip.  From  the  speciments  of  basket-work 
pottery  sent,  there  is  no  doubt  that,  with  better  materials 
and  a  little  instruction,  the  natives  could  excel  in  this  as  in 
the  forms  of  their  pottery. 

If  we  had  no  other  information,  we  might  yet  infer  from 
the  crucibles  employed  by  the  goldsmith,  by  the  workers  in 
brass,  and  by  the  makers  of  cast  steel,  that  some  very  infu¬ 
sible  clays  are  to  be  found  in  India;  but  recent  investiga¬ 
tions  have  proved  that  crucibles  and  fire-bricks,  superior  in 
infusibility  to  those  made  of  Stourbridge  clay,  have  been 
made  in  India;  and  from  the  white  goblets  of  Arcot,  and 
the  light-coloured  pottery  of  Madras,  as  well  as  from  the 
white  bricks  sent  from  the  Ceded  Districts,  we  see  that 


there  are  many  useful  clays  without  the  usual  admixture 
of  iron. 

As  connected  with  pottery  might  be  mentioned  the 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  359 

variously  coloured  Encaustic  tiles,  which  have  been  used 
for  the  domes  of  some  of  the  tombs  near  Delhi  and  Agra,  as 
well  as  in  Southern  India;  but  I  cannot  learn  that  the  art 
is  at  present  practised.  It  was  probably  introduced  by  the 
Mahomedans  from  Persia.  Specimens  from  some  of  these 
tombs  were  shown  by  Mr.  Boileau. 

I  might  have  proceeded  to  notice  their  knowledge  of 
Cements,  but  I  may  in  preference  notice  a  kindred  art,  and 
which  seems  capable  of  adoption  elsewhere  when  suitable; 
that  is,  the  skill  with  which  they  give  a  facing  of  marble  to 
a  wall  of  brick.  This  they  usually  do  by  employing  mortar 
made  ot  shell-lime ;  but  I  found  some  made  from  pure 
limestone  equally  good.  A  thin  layer  of  this  fine  white 
cement  being  spread,  is  brought  to  the  lustre  of  marble  by 
a  process  similar  to  burnishing. 

Bleaching. — Bleaching  is  practised  in  all  parts  of  India, 
and  some  places,  which  ai’e  also  seats  of  the  cotton  manu¬ 
facture,  are  famous  for  bleaching,  such  as  Dacca  and 
Baroche.  This  has  been  ascribed  to  the  excellency  of  the 
water  in  the  neighbourhood  of  these  places.  A  very  good 
account  has  been  given  by  Mr.  Taylor,*  late  of  Dacca,  of  the 
process  of  bleaching  at  that  place.  This  is  particularly 
interesting,  as  including  what  are  called  modern  discoveries. 

Fine  muslins  are  merely  steeped  in  water,  other  cloths 
are  first  washed.  But  all,  of  whatever  texture  they  may 
be,  are  next  immersed  for  some  hours  in  an  alkaline  ley  com¬ 
posed  of  soap  and  of  sajie  muttee,  that  is,  impure  carbonate 
of  soda.  They  are  then  spread  over  the  grass,  and  oecasion- 
ally  sprinkled  with  water,  and  when  half  dried  arc  removed 
to  the  boiling-house  in  order  to  be  steamed.  This  is  effected 
by  twisting  the  cloths  into  the  form  of  loose  bundles  and 
placing  them  upon  a  broad  clay  platform,  which  is  on  a 
level  with,  and  surrounds,  the  neck  of  a  boiler  sunk  into 
the  ground.  They  are  then  arranged  in  circular  layers, 
one  above  the  other,  around  a  bamboo  tube,  which  is  kept 
upright  by  means  of  transverse  supporters  projecting  from 
it,  the  whole  forming  a  conical  pile  that  rises  to  a  height 
ot  five  or  six  feet  above  the  boiler. 

*  “An  Account  of  tlie  Cotton  Manufacture  in  Dacca,"  &c.  Pub¬ 
lished  by  Mortimer. 


360  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

The  fire  is  kindled  in  the  excavation  below,  and  as  the 
ebullition  of  the  water  proceeds,  the  steam  diffuses  itself 
through  the  mass  of  the  cloths  above,  swelling  by  its  high 
temperature  the  threads  of  the  latter.  The  operation  of 
steaming  is  commenced  in  the  evening,  and  continued  all 
night  till  the  following  morning.  The  cloths  are  then 
removed  from  the  boiler,  steeped  in  alkaline  ley,  and  spread 
on  the  grass  as  on  the  preceding  day,  and  again  steamed  at 
night.  Those  alternate  processes  of  blocking  and  crofting , 
as  they  are  technically  called,  during  the  day,  and  of  steam¬ 
ing  at  night,  are  repeated  for  ten  or  twelve  days,  until  the 
cloths  are  perfectly  bleached.  After  the  last  steaming,  they 
are  steeped  in  clear  filtered  water  acidulated  with  lime-juice, 
in  the  proportion,  generally,  of  one  large  lime  to  each  piece 
of  cloth.  Lime-juice  has  long  been  used  in  bleaching  in  all 
parts  of  India,  and  Tavernier  describes  Baroche  as  famous 
as  a  bleaching  station,  on  account  of  its  extensive  meadows 
and  the  large  quantity  of  lemons  reared  there. 

Mixed  fabrics  of  cotton  and  Muga  silk  are  steeped  in 
water  mixed  with  lime-juice  and  coarse  sugar,  which  latter 
article  is  said  to  have  the  effect  of  brightening  the  natural 
colour  of  the  silk. 

Dyeing ,  Calico-printing,  and  Printing  in  Gold. — The 
art  of  dyeing  is  no  doubt  of  very  ancient  date,  and  one  with 
which  the  Hindoos  have  long  been  well  acquainted.  Their 
country  produced  all  the  raw  materials  for  producing  a 
great  variety  of  colours ;  some  of  these  are  of  so  conspicuous 
a  nature,  such  as  the  large  flowers  of  plants,  that  the  desire 
must  early  have  occurred  to  transfer  these  colours  to  the 
person  in  savage  nations,  or  to  the  clothes  of  so  early 
civilized  a  people  as  the  Hindoos.  This  could  easily  have 
been  done  with  the  fugitive  colours,  but  as  they  know  how 
to  make  a  colour  like  that  of  indigo,  which  undergoes  a  con¬ 
siderable  degree  of  chemical  change  during  its  formation  as 
well  as  while  applied  to  the  dyeing  of  its  blue  colour,  it  is 
evident,  even  if  we  had  no  other  information  on  the  subject, 
that  they  must  have  paid  attention  to  some  chemical  subjects. 
But  we  know  that  they  have  long  possessed,  and  knew  how 
to  manufacture,  the  several  salts  which  have  long  been  em¬ 
ployed  as  mordants. 

That  the  art  of  dyeing  was  early  practised  we  have  the 


T1IE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 


3G1 


proof  in  the  fact  mentioned  by  Pliny,  that  flags  of  various 
colours  were  displayed  by  the  Indians.  It  has  been  sup¬ 
posed  that  the  Hindoos  may  have  learned  this  art  from 
the  Egyptians,  but  the  probability  is  a3  great  that  the  latter 
learned  the  art  from  the  former,  from  whom  also  they 
probably  obtained  the  alum  which  was  celebrated  by  the 
name  of  Egyptian  alum.  Alum  is  still  manufactured  in 
Clutch  ;  the  natives  of  India  have  long  known  the  use  of 
sulphate  of  iron  and  of  acetate  of  iron.  The  latter  they 
prepare  by  macerating  iron  in  sour  palm-wine,  or  in  water 
in  which  rice  had  been  boiled.  The  alkalies  and  acids  with 
which  they  are  acquainted  may  have  assisted  them  in 
changing  the  shades  of  colours.  It  would  take  too  much 
time  to  enter  into  the  details  of  these  dyeing  processes,  many 
of  which  are,  however,  now  well  known,  and  seem  to  have 
been  the  original  of  many  of  those  followed  in  Europe  until 
very  recent  times.  The  Exhibition  has  shown  that  they 
can  dye  every  colour,  and  of  a  great  variety  of  shades,  and 
that,  in  a  complicated  pattern,  they  know  the  value  and 
power  of  each  in  contrasting  the  effect  of  others,  so  as  to 
produce  an  harmonious  whole. 

The  art  of  Calico-printing  is  another  of  those  which  was 
common  to  the  Egyptians  and  Indians,  and  is  still  largely 
practised  by  the  latter,  aud  with  a  skill  which  produced 
much  to  be  admired  even  in  the  midst  of  the  productions 
of  the  world,  and  after  so  many  attempts  have  been  made 
to  improve  an  art  certainly  imported  from  the  East.  Pliny 
was  acquainted  with  the  wonderful  art  by  which  cloths, 
though  immersed  in  a  heated  dyeing  liquor  of  one  uniform 
colour,  came  out  tinged  with  different  colours,  and  which 
afterwards  could  not  be  discharged  by  washing.  The  In¬ 
dians  were  found  practising  the  art  when  first  visited  by 
Europeans.  The  mordants  they  apply  both  by  pencils  and 
by  engraved  blocks,  though  it  has  been  said  that  the  former 
method  was  the  only  one  employed.  Blocks  were  sent  from 
Cossipore,  and  are  used  in  Mysore  and  in  Central  India; 
some  specimens  of  silk  hankerchiefs  were  exhibited  by  Mr. 
Warrington,  to  show  the -different  stages  of  dyeing  as  prac¬ 
tised  in  India.  In  one,  the  parts  where  the  round  spots 
were  to  be,  were  tied  up  with  thread  so  as  not  to  be  affected 
by  the  dye-liquor. 


362  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

The  cloth-printers  at  Dacca  are  employed  to  stamp  the 
figures  on  cloth  which  is  to  be  embroidered.  The  stamps 
are  formed  of  small  blocks  of  khutul  (artocarpus)  wood, 
with  the  figures  carved  in  relief.  The  colouring  matter  is 
a  red  earth  imported  from  Bombay,  probably  the  so-called 
“  Indian  earth”  from  the  Persian  Gulf. 

Though  the  art  is  now  practised  to  such  perfection  in 
this  country,  the  Indian  patterns  still  retain  their  own  par¬ 
ticular  beauties,  and  command  a  crowd  of  admirers.  This 
is  no  doubt  due  in  a  great  measure  to  the  knowledge  which 
they  have  of  the  effects  of  colours,  and  the  proportion  which 
they  preserve  between  the  ground  and  the  pattern,  by  which 
a  good  effect  is  procured  both  at  a  distance  and  on  a  near 
inspection. 

Printing  in  gold  and  in  silver  is  a  branch  of  the  art 
which  has  been  carried  to  great  perfection  in  India,  judging 
by  the  several  specimens  sent  from  very  different  parts  of 
India,  as  well  upon  thick  calico  as  upon  fine  muslin.  The 
size  which  is  used  I  have  not  found  mentioned,  but  in  the 
Burmese  territory  the  juice  of  a  plant  is  used,  which,  no 
doubt,  contains  caoutchouc  in  a  state  of  solution. 

Leather  is  another  chemical  art  with  which  the  Hindoos 
have  long  been  acquainted,  though  it  is  doubtful  whether 
they  ever  made  leather  of  very  superior  quality ;  but  the  art 
is  practised  in  native  states  where  it  is  not  likely  to  have 
been  introduced  by  European  influence,  as,  for  instance,  in 
Cashmere  and  in  Cutcli,  whence  we  have  had  skins  dyed  of 
different  colours.  But  leather  of  very  excellent  quality  has 
been  sent  from  the  Government  farm  at  Hoonsoor  in  My¬ 
sore,  likewise  from  Calcutta  by  the  Messrs.  Toil.  The 
native  shields  are,  however,  not  to  be  surpassed. 

Soap  seems  to  have  been  introduced  by  the  Mahome- 
dans,  though  the  Hindoos  have  long  used  alkaline  leys, 
obtained  from  the  ashes  of  plants,  for  many  of  the  purposes 
of  soap ;  and  they  have  a  substitute  for  soap  in  several  ber¬ 
ries.  Soap  is  made  at  Dacca,  of  shell  lime,  10  mds.  ;sajie 
muttee,  16  mds. ;  common  salt,  15  mds.  ;  sesamum  oil,  12 
mds.;  goats’  suet,  15  seers.  It  is  made  of  good  quality  at 
Saharunpore;  and  some  marine  soap,  of  excellent  quality, 
though  in  small  quantity,  was  sent  from  Calicut. 

Candles  may  be  appropriately  mentioned  here,  though 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  863 

the  mode  of  making  them  is  probably  not  Indian,  but 
taught  by  Europeans.  The  natives  use  oil  lamps,  of  vari¬ 
ous  shapes,  often  of  metal  fixed  on  an  iron  spike,  which 
they  stick  into  the  ground.  But  excellent  candles  are  now 
made  in  India ;  as,  for  instance,  the  wax  candles  from 
Patna,  and  the  stearic  candles  of  the  Messrs.  Sainte  from 
Calcutta. 

Lacquer  Ware. — The  word  lacquer  is  evidently  derived 
from  the  Indian  name  lac  or  look,  which  is  the  resin  se¬ 
creted  together  with  lac-dye  by  the  lac  insect,  a  species  of 
coccus.  The  name  occurs  in  Avicenna,  who  mentions  it, 
as  described  by  some,  as  the  gum  of  a  tree  like  the  myrtle, 
and  by  others  that  it  is  a  substance  like  to,  and  having 
some  of  the  properties  of  amber.  It  is  mentioned  in  many 
Indian  works,  and  is  apparently  alluded  to  by  Ctesias.  This 
substance  is  used  for  a  variety  of  purposes  in  India,  and  it 
is  the  common  material  for  uniting  things  together,  as  gum 
and  glue  are  in  Europe.  (Toys  of  various  kinds,  lac  chains 
gilt,  and  lac  grindstones,  were  shown.) 

The  term  lacquer  is  applied  to  laying  on  or  covering 
with  a  preparation  of  lac;  but  two  different  processes  are 
usually  confounded  under  this  term.  The  one  prevailing 
in  Burma  and  the  southern  parts  of  the  Indian  Peninsula 
was  well  known  to  Dampier,  in  1638,  as  he  says,  “  The  lac 
of  Tonquin  is  a  sort  of  gummy  juice  which  drains  out  of 
the  bodies  or  limbs  of  trees,”  and  that  “the  articles 
lackered  are  cabinets,  desks,  &c.”  Some  chemical  change, 
no  doubt,  takes  place  on  exposure  of  these  juices  to 
the  air. 

This  kind  of  lacquered  ware  was  much  appreciated  in  the 
last  century,  and  was  imported  chiefly  from  China;  much, 
however,  was  always  prepared  in  Burma,  though  that  of 
Japan  was  always  considered  superior  to  any  other,  and  of 
which  many  fine  specimens  may  still  be  seen  in  large  fold¬ 
ing  screens,  &c.  Both  these  and  the  lacquer  of  Burma  are 
prepared  only  from  the  juice  of  a  family  of  plants  (the 
Tcrcbinthaceoi),  the  same  as  that  to  which  the  marking  nut 
and  sumach  belong. 

The  chief  expense  of  the  manufacture  arises  from  the 
care  with  which  successive  layers  of  varnish  must  be  laid 
on.  Various  specimens  of  boxes  have  been  sent  from 


364  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

Moulmein  and  from  Singapore,  some  showing  different 
stages  of  the  process. 

Another  kind  of  lacquer-work  is  rather  of  the  nature  of 
papier-mache,  covered  with  one  or  more  layers  of  lac  var¬ 
nish.  This  is  the  case  with  the  lacquered  boxes  from  Cash- 
mere  and  Lahore,  so  remarkable  for  the  beauty  and  elegance 
of  their  patterns. 

Sealing-Wax  is  also  made  from  lac,  and  several  varieties 
have  been  sent  from  different  parts  of  India.  Garcias  ab 
Qrto  described  it  as  made  from  lac  in  the  year  1563. 
Tavernier  mentions  the  same  fact.  The  Spaniards  have 
obtained  credit  for  the  invention;  but  they,  no  doubt, 
learned  it  from  the  Arabs.  A  Frenchman  who  travelled 
much  in  Persia  and  different  parts  of  the  East  Indies  is 
also  thought  to  have  been  the  discoverer ;  and  by  Beck¬ 
mann  it  is  considered  to  be  a  German  invention.  This  is 
hardly  a  chemical  art,  but  it  is  probably  better  placed  here 
than  elsewhere. 

Paper. — The  art  of  making  paper  is  considered  to  be  a 
Chinese  invention,  but  it  has  long  been  known  in  India, 
where  paper  is  made  both  of  cotton  and  of  the  substitutes 
for  hemp  and  flax.  In  the  Himalayas  it  is  made  of  the 
inner  bark  of  Daphne  cannabina ,  and  in  sheets  of  immense 
size.  A  large  collection  was  exhibited  from  different  parts 
of  India,  but,  though  well  adapted  for  writing  on  in  India, 
it  is  not  suited  for  Europe,  in  consequence  of  the  difference 
in  the  ink  used. 


II.  Textile  Arts. 

The  East  has,  from  the  earliest  times  of  which  we  have 
any  record,  been  famous  for  its  textile  fabrics ;  and  India, 
notwithstanding  the  great  mechanical  inventions  of  this 
country,  is  still  able  to  produce  her  “webs  of  woven  air,” 
which  a  Manchester  manufacturer  of  the  last  century  attempt¬ 
ed  to  depreciate,  by  calling  them  “  the  shadow  of  a  com¬ 
modity,”  at  the  same  time  that  his  townsmen  were  doing 
all  they  could  to  imitate  the  reality,  and  which  they  have 
not  yet  been  able  to  excel. 

Cotton  Manufacture. — Though  the  invention  and  com¬ 
pletion  of  a  loom  for  weaving  would  indicate  a  high  degree 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OE  INDIA.  3G5 

of  ingenuity  as  well  as  a  considerable  advance  in  some  other 
arts,  the  Hindoos  were  acquainted  with  it  at  a  very  early 
period,  for  in  the  hymns  of  the  Rig  Yeda,  composed  at  least 
1200  years  B.C.,  “weavers’  threads”  are  alluded  to,  and  in 
the  Institutes  of  Manu  it  is  directed, — “Let  a  weaver  who 
has  received  ten  palas  of  cotton-thread  give  them  back,  in¬ 
creased  to  eleven  by  the  rice-water  and  the  like  used  in 
weaving.”  That  cotton  was  employed  at  very  early  periods 
is  also  evident  from  the  Indian  name  for  cotton,  karpas, 
occurring  in  the  Book  of  Esther,  ch.  i.  v.  6,  in  the  account 
of  the  hangings  in  the  court  of  the  Persian  palace  at  Shu- 
slian,  on  the  occasion  of  the  great  feast  given  by  Ahasuerus, 
where  “were  white,  green,  and  blue  hangings.”  The  word 
corresponding  to  green  is  karpas  in  the  Hebrew.  It  seems 
to  mean  cotton-cloth  made  into  curtains,  which  were  striped 
white  and  blue.  Such  may  be  seen  throughout  India  in  the 
present  day,  in  the  form  of  what  are  called  purdahs.*  [The 
mode  in  which  these  are  used,  and  the  employment  of  the 
same  colours  in  stripes,  was  shown  in  sulrunjees,  or  cotton 
carpets  on  the  wall.] 

That  the  Hindoos  were  in  the  habit  of  spinning  threads 
of  different  materials  appears  from  another  part  of  the  In¬ 
stitutes  of  the  same  lawgiver,  where  it  is  directed  that  the 
sacrificial  threads  of  a  Brahmin  must  be  made  of  cotton, 
that  of  a  Shatriya  (.second  caste),  of  sana  (  Crotolaria  jun- 
cea, ),  and  that  of  a  Vaisya,  of  woollen  thread.  The  natives 
of  India  prepare  fabrics  not  only  of  cotton,  but  also  of  hemp, 
and  of  jute,  and  other  substitutes  for  flax  ;  also  of  a  variety 
of  silks,  and  of  the  wool  of  the  sheep,  goat,  and  camel,  as 
well  as  mixed  fabrics  of  different  kinds.  But  it  is  for  the 
delicacy  of  the  muslins,  especially  of  those  woven  at  Dacca, 
that  India  has  so  long  been  famous.  It  is  pleasing  to  find 
that  these  manufactures  still  continue  pre-eminent  for  fine¬ 
ness  combined  with  softness.  From  a  careful  examination 
of  the  cottons  grown  in  different  parts  of  India,  as  well  as 
of  those  of  other  parts  of  the  world,  we  find  that  it  is  not 
owing  to  any  excellence  in  the  raw  material  that  the  supe¬ 
riority  in  the  manufacture  is  due,  for  spinners  here  say  that 
the  Indian  cotton  is  unfit  for  their  purposes,  being  not  only 

"'Vide  “Essay  on  Antiquity  of  Hindoo  Medicine,”  p.  145. 

31* 


366  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 


short  but  coarse  in  staple.*  It  is  owing,  therefore,  to  the 
infinite  care  bestowed  by  the  native  spinners  and  weavers  on 
every  part  of  their  work,  that  the  beauty  of  the  fabric  is  due ; 
aided,  as  they  are,  by  that  matchless  delicacy  of  touch  for 
which  the  Hindoos  have  long  been  famous.  But  this  is  no 
small  advantage,  for,  according  to  one  of  their  authors,  ‘‘the 
first,  the  best,  and  most  perfect  of  instruments  is  the  human 
hand.” 

The  Hindoo  weaver  is  often  described  as  hanging  his 
Horn  to  a  tree,  and  sitting  with  his  feet  in  the  ground.  It 
he  did  so,  his  productions  would  appear  more  wonderful 
than  they  arc,  as  being  still  more  the  result  ot  means  un¬ 
suited  to  the  ends.  But  a  late  resident  of  Dacca  has  given 
a  minute  account  of  the  cotton  manufacture  of  that  district, 
and  thence  we  learn  positively,  what  might  as  certainly  have 
been  inferred,  that  great  care  is  bestowed  on  every  part  of 
the  process.  The  spinning-wheel  is  usually  considered  to 
be  an  improvement  upon  the  distaft  and  spindle,  as  our  ma¬ 
chinery  is  upon  the  inexpensive  spinning-wheel.  In  facili¬ 
tating  work  and  diminishing  expense,  the  spinning-wheel 
was,  no  doubt,  a  great  improvement,  and  is  still  employed 
throughout  India  for  the  ordinary  and  coarser  fabrics.  But 
the  spindle  still  holds  its  place  in  the  hands  of  the  Hindoo 
woman  when  employed  in  spinning  thread  for  the  fine  and 
delicate  muslins,  to  which  the  names  of  “  Dew  of  blight,” 
“Banning  Water,”  &c.,  are  applied  by  the  natives,  and 
which,  no  doubt,  formed  the  Tela  ventosa  of  the  ancients; 
and  those  called  Gangitika  in  the  time  ot  Arrian  were  pro¬ 
bably  produced  in  the  same  locality.  Mr.  James  Taylor, 
late  of  the  medical  service  of  Bengal,  in  a  report  which  was 
sent  by  the  Court  of  Directors  to  India,  gave  much  interest¬ 
ing  information  respecting  the  cotton  manufacture  of  Dacca; 
and  to  the  Exhibition  he  sent  a  series  of  views  of  the  dif¬ 
ferent  parts  of  the  process,  together  with  the  instruments 
used  in  spinning,  as  well  as  some  specimens  of  their  fine 

*  Experiments  were  made  for  a  series  of  years,  at  the  expense 
of  th e  Indian  Government,  to  grow  American  cotton  in  the  Dacca 
district,  but  without  success,  owing,  it  was  thought  by  the  Ameri¬ 
can  planter  in  charge,  to  excess  of  moisture,  and  to  the  depreda¬ 
tions  of  insects. — Hoyle  “  On  the  Culture  and  Commerce  of  Cotton. 
;n  India  and  elscnhere,”  pp.  241-256.  1851. 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  367 

thread.  He  shows  that  the  Hindoo  woman  first  cards  her 
cotton  with  the  jaw-bone  of  the  boalee  fish,  which  is  a  spe¬ 
cies  of  Silurus ;  she  then  separates  the  seeds  by  means  of 
a  small  iron  roller,  worked  backwards  and  forwards  upon  a 
flat  board.  An  equally  small  bow  is  used  for  bringing  it 
to  the  state  of  a  downy  fleece,  which  is  made  up  into  small 
rolls  to  be  held  in  the  hand  during  the  process  of  spinning. 
The  apparatus  required  for  this  consists  of  a  delicate  iron 
spindle,  having  a  small  ball  of  clay  attached  to  it,  in  order 
to  give  it  sufficient  weight  in  turning,  and  imbedded  in  a 
little  clay  there  is  a  piece  of  hard  shell,  on  which  the  spindle 
turns  with  the  least  degree  of  friction.  Besides  these,  a 
moist  air  and  a  temperature  of  80°  is  found  best  suited  to 
this  fine  spinning,  and  it  is  therefore  practised  early  in  the 
mornings  and  in  the  evenings,  sometimes  over  a  shallow 
vessel  of  water,  the  evaporation  from  which  imparting  the 
necessary  degree  of  moisture.  The  spinners  of  yarn  for  the 
Chundeyree  muslins  in  the  dry  climate  of  north-west  India 
are  described  as  working  in  underground  workshops,  on 
account  of  the  greater  uniformity  in  the  moisture  of  the  at¬ 
mosphere. 

The  Indian  spinning-wheel  is  looked  upon  with  contempt 
by  those  who  look  to  the  polish  rather  than  to  the  fitness  of 
a  tool.  Professor  Cowper,  than  whom  no  one  is  a  better 
judge,  observing  that  the  wood-work  of  some  of  these  spin¬ 
ning-wheels  was  richly  carved,  inferred  that  the  strings  with 
which  the  circumference  ivas  formed  might  have  some  use, 
and  not  be  adopted  from  poverty  or  from  idleness.  In 
making  working  models  of  these  instruments,  he  has  found 
that  in  no  other  way  could  he  produce  such  satisfactory  re¬ 
sults  as  by  closely  imitating  the  models  before  him,  the 
strings  giving  both  tension  and  elasticity  to  the  instrument. 
The  spindles,  moreover,  being  slightly  bent,  or  the  hand 
held  obliquely,  the  yarn  at  every  turn  of  the  spindle  slips 
off  the  end  and  becomes  twisted. 

As  the  different  processes  are  fully  described  in  the  work 
to  which  I  have  alluded,  I  need  not  dwell  further  on  this 
part  of  the  subject,  except  to  mention  that  the  common  di¬ 
mensions  of  a  piece  of  Dacca  muslin  are  twenty  yards  in 
length  by  one  in  breadth.  There  are  more  threads  in  the 
warp  than  in  the  woof,  the  latter  being  to  the  former,  in  a 


3G8  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

piece  of  muslin  weighing  twenty  tolas  or  siccas,  in  the  pro¬ 
portion  of  9  to  11.  One  end  of  the  warp  is  generally  fringed, 
sometimes  both.  The  value  of  a  piece  of  plain  muslin  is 
estimated  by  its  length  and  the  number  of  threads  in  the 
warp,  compared  with  its  weight.  The  greater  the  length 
and  number  of  threads  and  the  less  the  weight  of  the  pierce, 
the  higher  is  its  price,  It  is  seldom,  however,  that  a  web 
is  formed  entirely  of  the  finest  thread  which  it  is  possible  to 
spin.  The  local  committee  of  Dacca  having  given  notice 
that  they  would  award  prizes  for  the  best  piece  of  muslin 
which  could  be  woven  in  time  for  the  Exhibition,  the  prize 
of  25  rupees  was  awarded  to  Hubeeoolla,  weaver  of  Grolo- 
konda,  near  Dacca.  The  piece  is  ten  yards  long  and  one 
wide,  weighs  only  3  oz.  2  dwts.,  and  may  be  passed  through 
a  very  small  ring. 

Though  the  cotton  manufactures  of  India  have  so  greatly 
fallen  off,  from  the  cheapness  of  English  manufactured 
goods,  it  is  gratifying,  as  well  as  unexpected,  to  learn  from 
Mr.  Taylor,  that  as  the  finest  muslins  formed  but  a  small 
portion  of  the  goods  formerly  exported  to  England,  the  de¬ 
cay  of  the  Dacca  trade  has  had  comparatively  little  influ¬ 
ence  on.  this  manufacture,  as  these  delicate  manufactures 
still  maintain  their  celebrity  in  the  country,  and  are  still 
considered  worthy  of  being  included  among  the  most  ac¬ 
ceptable  gifts  that  can  be  offered  to  her  native  princes;  and 
he  believes  that  the  muslin  made  at  present  is  superior  to 
the  manufacture  of  1790,  and  fully  equal  to  that  of  the 
reign  of  Aurungzebe.  He  also  informs  us  that  a  College 
for  the  education  of  the  natives  stands  on  the  site  of  tire 
former  English  factory. 

Fine  muslins  have  been  sent  to  the  Exhibition,  not  only 
from  Dacca,  but  also  from  Kishenigurh,  in  Bengal ;  like¬ 
wise  trom  as  far  south  as  Cottar,  in  the  Bajah  of  Travan- 
core  s  dominions ;  as  well  as  from  Chundeyree  in  the  Cwa- 
lior  territories. 

Specimens  of  almost  every  variety  of  the  cotton  manu¬ 
facture,  such  as  the  coarse  garrhas  and  guzzees  for  packing, 
clothing,  and  for  covering  corpses,  with  dosootees,  &c.,  for 
tents,  canvass  for  sails,  towels,  and  table-cloths,  and  every  va¬ 
riety  of  calico,  have  been  sent  from  the  islands  of  the  Indian 
Ocean,  from  Nepal  and  Assam,  as  well  as  from  all  along 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  369 


the  valley  of  the  Ganges,  from  Bengal  up  to  the  Jullundur 
Doab,  in  the  Sikh  territories;  also  from  Cutch,  Ahmedabad, 
Surat,  and  Dharwar,  on  the  western  side  of  India;  and 
from  the  central  territories  of  the  Nizam,  and  of  the  Rajah 
of  Nagpore. 

The  finest  pieces  of  calico,  and  punjum  longcloth,  have 
been  sent  from  Jugginpettah,  in  the  Northern  Circars,  which 
was  formerly  the  great  seat  of  this  manufacture. 

It  is  curious  that  some  of  these  places,  noted  even  for 
their  manufactures,  did  not  grow  their  own  cotton.  Dacca, 
no  doubt,  grew  most  of  what  it  required  for  its  muslins, 
because  the  thread  did  not  swell  in  bleaching,  but  it  also 
imported  cotton  formerly  from  Surat,  as  well  as  from  Cen¬ 
tral  India.  Azimgurh  imports  its  cotton  chiefly  from  the 
same  source  to  which  the  Northern  Circars  was  also  formerly 
indebted,  while  Chundeyree  imports  its  cotton  from  the  dis¬ 
tant  valley  of  Nimur. 

Among  the  fabrics  there  are  a  great  variety,  which  prove 
that  the  natives  are  acquainted  with  every  kind  of  weaving, 
from  guzzces  and  gauzes,  to  striped,  chequered,  and  flowered 
muslins.  The  last  are  interesting  as  specimens  of  an  art 
which  has  been  long  known  in  the  East,  and  the  mode  of 
making  which  has  often  puzzled  weavers  in  this  country. 
In  manufacturing  figured  (jam dance)  fabrics,  Mr.  Taylor 
informs  us,  “  They  place  the  pattern,  drawn  upon  paper, 
below  the  warp,  and  range  along  the  track  of  the  woof  a 
number  of  cut  threads,  equal  to  the  flowers,  or  parts  of  the 
design  intended  to  be  made ;  and  then,  with  two  small  fine- 
pointed  bamboo  sticks,  they  draw  each  of  these  threads  be¬ 
tween  as  many  threads  of  the  warp  as  may  be  equal  to  the 
width  of  the  figure  which  is  to  be  formed.  When  all  the 
threads  have  been  brought  between  the  warp,  they  are  drawn 
close  by  a  stroke  of  the  ley.  The  shuttle  is  then  passed  by 
one  of  the  weavers  through  the  shed,  and  the  weft  having 
been  driven  home,  it  is  returned  by  the  other  weaver.” 
Most  of  these  flowered  muslins  are  uniform  in  colour,  but 
some  are  in  two  colours,  and  chiefly  woven  in  Bengal. 
Specimens  of  double-wTeaving  in  cotton,  and  showing  consi¬ 
derable  skill,  with  a  pleasing  arrangement  of  pattern  and 
colours,  have  been  sent  from  Kyrpore,  in  Sindh.  These 
are  also  woven  in  Ganjam. 


370  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

Flax,  hemp,  and  substitutes  for  them,  are  all  well  known 
and  extensively  cultivated  in  every  part  of  India;  but  flax 
solely  on  account  of  its  seeds,  which  yield  oil  and  oilcake, 
though  some  very  good  flax  has  been  produced  in  some  parts 
of  Bengal;  and  the  hemp,  on  account  of  the  intoxicating 
principles  secreted  in  its  leaves  and  green  parts,  and  which 
in  different  forms  is  known  under  the  name  of  bhang , 
liusheesh,  churns.  The  fibre  of  the  plant,  as  grown  in  the 
plains,  is  too  dry  and  brittle  to  be  useful  cither  for  rope¬ 
making  or  for  textile  fabrics,  though  in  the  Himalayas  some 
excellent  ropes  and  canvass  are  made,  and  the  culture  might 
be  greatly  extended  if  there  was  a  demand  for  the  produce. 
Species  of  crotolaria,  of  hibiscus,  of  corchorus,  and  of  many 
other  genera,  yield  fibres  which  are  used  for  rope-making; 
but  that  of  the  species  of  corchorus,  commonly  called  jute, 
for  making  gunny  bags,  used  for  packing,  which  are  even 
exported  to  America  for  packing  their  cotton.  In  the  Pe¬ 
ninsula  these  bags  are  made  of  Crotolaria  juncea,  or  goni 
plant.  The  rhea  fibre,  which  is  closely  allied  to,  if  not 
identical  with,  the  China  grass,  is  used  for  making  fishing- 
lines  and  some  kinds  of  fabric,  but  its  employment  may  be 
greatly  extended.  So  also  the  plantain,  the  pine-apple,  and 
the  sanseviera  fibre,  of  all  of  which  some  fabrics  have  been 
made  and  exhibited,  but  in  too  small  quantities  to  attract 
much  attention,  though  some  will  probably  become  impor¬ 
tant  articles  of  commerce. 

Silks. — Silk  is  a  production  of  China,  and  said  by  Chinese 
authors  to  have  been  known  there  for  thousands  of  years. 
It  has  long  been  imported  into  India  from  China.  The 
earliest  notice,  though  there  is  some  doubt  about  the  passage, 
is  in  the  Mahabharut,  where  Cheenas,  Hoonas,  &c.,  are  said 
to  have  brought  “  silk  and  silk-worms”  as  presents  to  Yood- 
histira.  When  the  China  silk-worm  was  first  introduced 
into  India  as  an  object  of  culture  we  have  no  information; 
but  what  is  called  the  indigenous  ( desee )  silk-worm  is  care¬ 
fully  distinguished  from  the  China  worm;  and  there  are 
several  species  of  wild  silk-worms,  species  of  Saturnia , 
Phalcena ,  and  Bombyx,  all  of  which  were  shown  at  the 
Exhibition,  with  Tusser,  Moonga ,  and  Eri  cloth.  The 
former  is  much  used  in  India  by  the  natives,  and  is  best 
known  as  an  article  of  commerce,  and  has  been  used  here 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  871 

for  parasols;  in  India  it.  is  esteemed  for  children’s  dresses 
The  Eri  cloth  is  extensively  used  as  an  article  of  clothing 
by  the  inhabitants  of  Assam. 

The  silk  of  Bengal  was  originally  very  inferior  in  quality, 
and  very  carelessly  wound.  The  East  India  Company,  in 
the  year  1757,  sent  a  Mr.  Wilder  to  improve  the  winding 
of  silk;  and  in  the  year  1769  other  Europeans,  as  drawers, 
winders,  reelers,  and  mechanics.  The  filatures  were  all  in 
Bengal,  and  to  the  southward  of  26°  of  N.  lat.,  for  the 
north-west  provinces  are  much  too  hot  and  dry  for  the  silk¬ 
worm.  Experiments  were  for  many  years  made  on  the 
western  side  of  India  to  introduce  the  culture  of  the  silk¬ 
worm,  under  an  Italian,  M.  Mutti ;  but  they  have  lately 
been  abandoned  from  want  of  success.  Some  excellent  silk 
is  being  produced  in  Mysore,  and  it  is  probable  that  the 
culture  might  easily  be  carried  on  in  the  valleys  of  the 
Himalaya. 

Of  the  manufactured  silk  some  fine  specimens  were  sent 
from  Messrs.  Vardon,  as  well  as  by  Mr.  Jardine.  Moor- 
shedabad  has  long  been  a  central  mart  for  silk  goods,  and  a 
variety  of  specimens  of  silk  have  been  sent  from  thence,  and 
some  satins  ( [mushroo )  from  Benares,  Cutch,  and  Hyderabad, 
chiefly  in  alternate  stripes  of  different  colours. 

On  the  Bombay  side  the  culture  did  not  succeed,  and  the 
raw  material  is  imported  from  China  and  dyed,  but  the 
manufacture  has  not  on  that  account  been  neglected.  The 
weavers  seem,  in  fact,  to  have  paid  an  extra  degree  of 
attention  to  their  art,  and  sent  silk,  which  is  well  woven, 
and  in  a  variety  of  patterns,  together  with  an  excellent 
specimen  (called  pytanee )  of  double  weaving,  being  red  on 
one  side  and  green  on  the  other,  and  showing  the  colours 
and  patterns  very  distinct.  This  is  from  Poona.  The  silks 
from  Surat,  Tanna,  and  Ahmednugger,  are  also  to  be  ad¬ 
mired  for  their  patterns,  as  well  as  the  longees  from  Sindh. 
The  silks  from  Cashmere  have  attracted  much  attention, 
both  from  the  substantial  nature  of  the  fabric,  some  of 
which  is,  I  believe,  called  tafeta,  and  for  the  moderated 
tone  of  the  colours  with  which  they  are  dyed. 

The  flowered  silks,  or  brocades,  from  Benares  and  from 
Ahmedabad,  as  well  as  those  from  Hyderabad,  command 


372  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

notice  for  their  richness  and  the  happy  disposition  of  pat¬ 
tern  and  combination  of  colours. 

Woollens. — As  the  skin  of  the  sheep  was  probably  one  of 
the  earliest  substances  employed  for  covering  the  body,  so 
its  wool,  having  the  property  of  felting,  must  early  have  led 
to  the  discovery  of  one  kind  of  cloth,  while  the  length  of 
its  staple  and  the  facility  with  which  it  can  be  twisted  iuto 
a  thread,  would  lead  to  the  formation  of  woollen  yarn,  which 
we  have  seen  was  early  employed  by  the  Hindoos  as  the 
sacrificial  thread  of  the  lower  caste. 

Several  specimens  of  wool  have  been  sent;  some  fine 
merino  wool  from  the  table-land  of  Mysore,  and  indigenous 
wools  from  the  hilly  country  of  the  north-west  frontier. 
Some  from  Lahore,  and  other  kinds  from  the  dry  and  cold 
elevated  climate  of  Tibet.  Of  the  last,  some  very  fine 
specimens  from  Lieut.  Straehey.  Many  of  the  animals 
there  being  furnished  with  a  fine  down  or  hair-like  wool 
under  the  coarse  common  outer  wool.  It  is  this  which  is 
chiefly  employed  for  the  shawls  and  the  shawl-wool  cloth. 

Though  woollen  fabrics  of  superior  quality  are  not  likely 
to  be  sent  from  a  hot  country  like  India,  yet  as  there  are 
great  diversities  of  climate  in  its  different  parts,  we  have 
some  very  substantial  woollen  cloths  and  blankets  from  dif¬ 
ferent  parts,  as  well  as  some  fine  shawl-wool  cloth  from 
Cashmere;  also  the  kind  called  Puttoo;  a  new  fabric,  named 
Pureepuz ,  the  pile  of  which,  on  one  side,  is  formed  of  loops. 
Felted  blankets  and  cloaks  have  been  sent  from  the  table¬ 
land  of  Mysore,,  as  well  as  from  the  north-west  frontier,  and 
from  Nepal  and  Tibet. 

Shawls  might  fitly  be  treated  of  in  this  place,  but  they 
are  too  well  known  for  their  useful  qualities,  and  too  much 
admired  for  the  elegance  of  their  patterns,  to  allow  me  to 
treat  of  them,  unless  there  was  some  new  information  to 
communicate.  This  I  do  not  possess.  A  short  report  on 
them  is  published  in  the  “  Illustrated  Catalogue,”  but  a  de¬ 
tailed  account  of  the  manufacture  in  Cashmere,  and  of  the 
drawing  of  the  patterns,  as  well  as  of  their  ideas  on  the 
juxtaposition  of  colours,  would  form  a  very  interesting 
subject  for  an  essay. 

Among  the  references  to  silk  in  ancient  authors,  there  is 
also  frequently  mention  made  of  gold  and  silver  as  inter- 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 


373 


■woven  with  silk;  even  the  Coan  women  are  represented  as 
interweaving  gold  thread  in  their  silken  webs,  and  Caligula 
as  wearing  “a  tunic  interwoven  with  gold.”  Babylonicum 
was  the  name  applied  to  the  splendid  productions  of  the 
Babylonian  looms.  They  are  described  as  being  adorned 
both  with  gold  and  with  variously  coloured  figures.  A  pea¬ 
cock’s  train  is  compared  to  a  figured-  Babylonicum,  enriched 
with  gold ;  while  Peplum,  the  shawl,  had  the  greatest  skill 
and  labour  bestowed  on  its  fabrication,  and  various  objects 
were  frequently  represented  on  it :  that  worn  by  the  Pasto- 
phori  in  religious  ceremonies  was  richly  interwoven  with 
gold,  and  displayed  various  symbolical  and  mythological 
figures;  while  the  Paragauda,  a  word  supposed  to  be  of 
Oriental  origin,  we  learn  was  the  border  of  a  tunic  enriched 
with  gold  thread  and  worn  by  ladies.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  it  has  long  been  the  custom  so  to  adorn  garments  in 
the  East,  and  we  have  had  numerous  such  specimens  sent 
to  the  Exhibition. 

The  above  enumeration  of  the  various  kinds  of  ancient 
shawls,  for  which  we  are  indebted  to  the  labours  of  Mr. 
Yates,  would  nearly  answer  as  an  account  of  the  series  of 
shawls,  scarves,  and  bordered  vests  and  tunics,  interwoven 
with  gold  and  silver  thread,  enriched  with  jewels,  or  with 
their  imitation,  and  adorned  in  some  cases  with  representa¬ 
tions  of  animals,  which  we  had  seut  to  the  Exhibition  from 
different  parts  of  India,  as  from  Gwalior,  Nagpore,  and  Hy¬ 
derabad,  together  with  the  brocades  of  Benares  and  Ahme- 
dabad,  and  of  which  we  have  specimens  now  before  us. 
But,  even  in  these  gorgeous  productions,  there  is  the  same 
attention  to  harmony  of  effect  combined  with  variety  and 
elegance  of  pattern  that  we  have  observed  in  the  simplest 
cottons  and  the  richest  silks. 

Carpets. — Climate  chiefly  influences  everything  referring 
to  the  clothing  or  habitation  of  man.  Among  the  latter, 
coverings  for  the  floor  are  necessarily  included.  In  a  cold, 
wet  climate,  it  is  hardly  possible  to  use  the  floors  of  rooms 
without  some  kind  of  covering;  and  therefore  we  read  in 
earlier  times  of  the  floors  being  covered  with  straw,  rushes, 
hay,  or  heather. 

*Jn  warm  countries,  on  the  contrary,  the  habit  is  more  to 
sit  in  the  open  air,  under  the  shade  of  trees;  and  it  is  dc- 


374  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 


sirable  to  have  some  covering  over  the  sandy  or  dusty  earth, 
either  to  sit  or  lie  down  upon.  It  is  not  surprising,  there¬ 
fore,  that  the  invention  of  carpets  should  have  originated  in 
Eastern  countries.  Skins  were  probably  first  employed.  A 
piece  of  leather  has  been  sent  as  that  so  used  by  a  Burmese 
priest. 

Mats  are  the  most  agreeable  in  hot  weather;  and  for 
these  India  is  famous,  as  well  for  their  variety  as  for  their 
fineness  and  pattern.  Carpets,  either  of  cotton,  silk,  or 
woollen,  are  employed  in  all  Eastern  countries,  from  the 
south  of  India  to  Turkey  in  Europe,  for  praying  on,  or  for 
occasions  of  state. 

The  carpets  employed  by  the  ancients  are  thought  to 
have  been  of  the  nature  of  tapestry,  and.  used  for  covering 
couches  rather  than  floors.  True,  carpets  seem  to  have  been 
first  employed  in  Persia;  and  those  called  Turkish  were 
probably  originally  of  Persian  manufacture,  whence  the 
manufacture  might  have  been  introduced  into  Turkey,  and 
where  it  is  still  practised,  as  we  had  so  many  rugs  sent  from 
thence,  as  well  as  from  Egypt,  being  used  there  as  prayer- 
carpets  by  Mahomedans. 

The  Persians  still  remain  unrivalled  in  the  happy  com¬ 
bination  of  colour  and  pattern  for  which  their  carpets  have 
long  been  distinguished,  whence  the  most  varied  hues  aud 
deepest  tints  are  brought  into  close  approximation,  and, 
far  from  offending  the  eye,  please  by  their  striking,  because 
harmonious  contrasts. 

Though  printed  calicoes  of  large  size  and  suitable  patterns 
are  sometimes  used  for  covering  the  floor  in  India,  and  we 
had  some  fine  specimens  from  Ahmedabad  and  from  Mool- 
tan,  yet  the  most  common  carpets  employed  in  India  are 
those  made  of  cotton,  and  called  sutrunjees,  of  different  co¬ 
lours,  usually  blue  and  white,  in  red  or  orange  stripes, 
squares,  or  stars ;  some  of  large  size,  and  well  suited  for 
halls  and  tents.  They  are  thick  and  strong  in  texture,  the 
two  surfaces  alike,  smooth  and  without  pile.  They  are 
manufactured  in  different  parts  of  India,  and  good  speci¬ 
mens  were  sent  from  Moorshedabad  and  Rungpore,  some 
good  coloured  kinds  from  Agra,  and  a  fine  large  one,  woven 
in  one  piece,  from  Ahmedabad. 

Another  kind  of  cotton  carpet  is  that  with  a  pile  of  cot- 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  375 

ton,  and  similar  in  appearance  to  a  Turkey  carpet.  Two 
good  specimens  were  sent  from  Sasseram — white,  with  a 
centre  and  border  of  blue.  Others,  with  every  variety  of 
coloured  pattern,  from  Hyderabad,  &c. 

Silk  is  another  material  of  which  carpets  are  made  in  the 
East ;  and  the  pile  being  of  silk,  imparts  both  softness  and 
richness  to  the  surface,  while  the  colours  are  clear  and 
brilliant.  A  few  very  splendid  specimens  of  such  carpets 
were  exhibited,  especially  the  large  one  which  was  hung  up 
to  the  eastward  of  the  tent,  and  was  contributed  by  Ma¬ 
harajah  Goolab  Sing.  It  was  as  beautiful  a  specimen  of 
variety  in  the  pattern,  brilliancy  in  the  colouring,  as  well 
as  of  pleasing  harmony  in  the  whole,  as  any  in  the  Exhibi¬ 
tion  building.  A  smaller  one,  of  the  same  pattern,  was 
laid  within  the  tent,  together  with  another,  in  the  same 
style,  from  Mooltan.  Other  silk  carpets,  but  of  small  size, 
were  sent  from  Tanjore,  Hyderabad,  and  Khyrpore.  Wool¬ 
len  carpets,  of  large  size,  and  of  beautiful  and  well-coloured 
Oriental  patterns,  were  sent  from  Mirzapore  and  from 
Goruckpore.  The  former  is  most  famous  in  India  for  its 
carpets,  and  which  are,  I  believe,  frequently  sold  in  this 
country  as  Turkey  carpets.  A  large  carpet  was  also  ex¬ 
hibited  from  Bangalore;  but  the  manufacturer  having  am¬ 
bitiously  attempted  a  European  pattern,  the  effect  was 
generally  pronounced  unfavourable  to  the  desertion  of  the 
much-admired  Indian  style.  The  rugs  from  Ellore,  on  the 
contrary,  were  universally  admired  for  their  general  cha¬ 
racteristics  of  Oriental  pattern  and  colouring ;  and  these, 
as  well  as  the  large  carpets  from  Mirzapore,  &c.,  which 
were  all  in  the  same  style,  seem  well  adapted  for  sale  in 
Europe. 

Two  carpets  are  worthy  of  notice,  as  having  been  made, 
the  one  by  the  convicts  in  the  gaol  of  Cawnpore,  and  the 
other  by  the  reformed  Thugs  in  the  Government  School  of 
Industry.  This  was  made  to  fit  the  large  tent  which  was 
pitched  outside  the  building,  and  which  did  not  attract  so 
much  attention  as  it  ought  to  have  done,  though  it  showed 
the  capability  of  the  reformed  Thugs  and  their  families  of 
making  tents  in  the  best  style. 

Though  we  are  without  all  the  requisite  details,  we  may 
yet  form  a  good  idea  of  the  manufacture  from  the  model  of 


376  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 


the  carpet-loom,  with  an  illustrative  drawing  from  Hoonsor. 
In  this  we  see  five  weavers  seated  before  the  perpendicular 
loom,  with  a  foreman  seated  with  book  in  hand,  apparently 
giving  directions  to  the  weavers  of  what  they  were  to  do. 

III.  Manual  and  Mechanical  Arts. 

Lace-making . — Lace  is  a  term  unluckily  applied  to  two 
very  distinct  arts,  one  consisting  of  gold  and  silver  wire, 
or  even  silk  thread,  woven  into  ribands  for  embroidering 
hats  and  uniforms.  The  other  is  the  well-known  trans¬ 
parent  network,  in  which  the  threads  of  the  weft  are  twisted 
round  those  of  the  warp;  it  may  be  made  of  silk,  flax,  or 
cotton,  or  even  of  gold  and  silver  thread,  and  has  usually 
a  pattern  worked  upon  it,  either  during  the  process  of 
making  the  lace,  or  with  a  needle  after  this  has  been  com¬ 
pleted.  Though  much  lace  is  now  made  by  machinery,  the 
highly-esteemed  genuine  article  is  made  by  hand ;  and, 
therefore,  may  fitly  commence  the  series  of  arts  which  de¬ 
pend  chiefly  on  manual  dexterity.  Lace-knitting  is  con¬ 
sidered  to  be  a  German  invention ;  but  lace  worked  by  the 
needle  is  of  far  older  date,  and  was  probably  an  Eastern 
invention,  though  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been  known 
or  practised  in  India.  Lace,  however,  is  enumerated  by 
Gen.  Cullen  as  being  made  in  the  territories  of  the  Rajah 
of  Travancore ;  and  the  Madras  Central  Committee,  in  their 
final  report,  state,  that  “  the  lace  of  Nagercoil,  which, 
though  knit  by  natives  of  the  country,  was  declared  equal 
to  the  best  French  lace.  A  few  of  the  European  residents 
are  already  aware  of  the  superior  quality  of  the  lace,  and 
use  it,  but  its  beauty  is  well  deserving  of  being  more  gene¬ 
rally  made  known  than  it  at  present  is.”  The  lace,  when 
.seen  at  the  Exhibition,  was  much  admired,  and  some  said 
that  it  must  have  been  made  in  France.  Rut  the  doubt 
may  easily  be  resolved,  and  advantage  would  result  to  all 
parties,  by  giving  orders  for  some  of  this  lace  to  the  native 
workers  in  Travancore.  Samples  of  six  different  kinds  were 
sent.  Gold  and  silver  blond  lace  are  both  excellent  of  their 
kinds,  but  as  the  demand  is  limited,  and  fashion  changeable, 
they  might  not  always  command  a  sale.  Rut  the  broad 
black  lace  on  wire-ground,  and  the  broad  white  and  fine  lace 


TIIE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  377 

on  Brussels  ground,  and  of  the  nature  of  Bedfordshire  lace, 
are  highly  approved  of  by  the  best  authorities.  The  broad 
being  thought  worth  four  shillings,  and  the  narrow  worth 
two  shillings  a-yard. 

Knitting  appears  to  be  unknown  to  the  natives  of  India, 
though  it  is  well  worthy  of  being  taught  them  ;  as,  indeed, 
it  has  been  in  the  few  girls’  schools  which  the  natives  have 
allowed  to  be  established. 

Net-making ,  or  the  art  in  which  the  fabric  is  required  to 
be  transparent,  but  in  which  the  fibres  are  decussated  and 
retained  in  their  places  by  knots,  that  the  interstices  may 
retain  their  form  and  size,  and  prevent  objects  from  escap¬ 
ing,  seems  to  have  been  known  in  the  earliest  ages  in  Egypt, 
and  is  practised  with  the  greatest  skill  on  the  coasts  of 
Bombay  and  of  Scinde,  as  well  as  on  the  rivers  of  India. 
A  great  variety  of  nets,  from  a  few  to  fifty  fathoms  in 
length,  are  fully  described  in  the  “  Illustrated  Catalogue.” 
Those  from  Singapore  are  interesting,  as  some  are  made 
with  cotton,  and  others  with  the  fibre  which  is  very  similar 
to,  if  not  identical  with,  that  forming  the  so-called  China 
grass. 

Needle-work. — Though  the  manufacture  of  needles  is 
said  to  have  been  first  introduced  into  England,  in  the  year 
1540,  by  a  native  of  India,  and  afterwards  by  a  German, 
the  needle  itself  is  not  much  used  by  the  Hindoo  inhabit¬ 
ants  of  that  country.  This  seems  unaccountable  in  so 
anciently  civilized  a  country,  as  the  needle  would  seem  to 
be  required  for  making  clothes  for  even  the  poorest  of  its 
inhabitants.  But  the  Hindoos,  both  male  and  female,  have 
the  art  of  completely,  and  yet  elegantly,  enveloping  the 
person  in  long  pieces  of  cloth  (their  sarces  and  doputtas ) 
just  as  they  come  from  the  hands  of  the  weaver.  [The 
figure  of  a  woman  cleaning  cotton  was  here  pointed  out.] 
The  needle  applied  to  sewing  is,  however,  essential  to  make 
the  dresses  of  the  Mahomedans ;  and  without  supposing  that 
the  needle  was  quite  unknown,  as  “  sewers  of  cloth”  are 
mentioned  by  Manu,  and  it  was  well  known  in  China,  it  is 
to  the  Mahomedans  chiefly,  or  to  other  Northern  invaders 
of  India,  that  the  introduction  of  the  needle  and  its  uses, 
as  well  as  the  art  of  embroidery,  are  due.  The  Arabs, 
probably,  introduced  the  manufacture  of  needles  into  Spain ; 
32  * 


378  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

as  Spanish  needles  were  at  one  time  famous.  They  are 
manufactured  iu  India  from  fine  wire.  [A  small  box,  with 
fine  needles,  in  different  stages  of  manufacture,  was  here 
shown  from  the  north-west  of  India.] 

The  art  of  Sewing  is  now  practised  in  India  chiefly  by 
men,  who  are  Mahomedans.  They  form  the  class  of  tailors 
( durzees ),  who  make  the  dresses  of  their  Mahomedan  breth¬ 
ren,  One  is  usually  kept  in  the  service  of  most  Europeans. 

u  Darning  ( raf  u-gari )  is  a  branch  of  the  art  which,  though 
in  Europe  applied  to  the  most  homely  purposes,  requires 
the  greatest  skill  in  the  East,  where  a  defect  in  a  costly 
shawl  is  to  be  made  good,  or  a  coarse  thread  is  to  be  picked 
out  of  a  piece  of  muslin  into  which  it  has  been  accidentally 
introduced,  bo  skilful  are  some  of  these  vafugars ,  that 
they  can  extract  a  thread  twenty  yards  long  from  a  piece 
of  the  finest  muslin,  and  replace  it  with  one  of  the  finest 
quality.  They  are  principally  employed  in  repairing  the 
muslins  and  calicoes  that  are  injured  during  bleaching,  in 
removing  knots  and  joining  broken  threads  •  also  in  form¬ 
ing  the  gold  and  silver  headings  on  cloths.” — Taylor. 

Embroidery . — The  art  of  embroidery  was  known  to,  and 
practised  with  great  skill  in  ancient  times  in  Egypt,  Assyria, 
and  Persia.  The  Israelites  learnt  the  art  before  their  exo¬ 
dus,  the  Babylonians  were  famed  for  their  rich  tapestries, 
and  the  Assyrian  monuments  display  richly  embroidered 
robes  and  trappings.  Many  parts  of  India  are  famous  for 
this  art  (Znr-do^).  “From  Dacca,”  says  the  Abbe  de 
Guy  on,  in  1744,  as  quoted  by  Mr.  Taylor,  “come  the  finest 
and  best  Indian  embroideries  in  gold,  silver,  or  silk ;  and 
those  embroidered  neckloths  and  fine  muslins  which  are  seen 
in  France.”  There  has  always  been  a  demand  for  such 
scarves  for  the  markets  of  Bassora  and  Java.  In  the  pre¬ 
sent  day  we  have  silks  and  woollens,  muslins  and  nets,  Cash- 
mere  shawls,  European  velvets  embroidered  with  silk  or 
tussur,  that  is,  wild  silk  of  either  floss  or  common  twisted 
silk  thread  :  or  with  gold  and  silver  thread  and  wire  in 
great  variety.  Mr.  Taylor  describes  the  cloth  to  be  embroi¬ 
dered  as  stretched  out  on  a  horizontal  bamboo  frame,  raised 
about  a  couple  of  feet  from  the  ground,  and  the  figures  in¬ 
tended  to  be  worked  or  embroidered  are  drawn  upon  it  by 
designers,  who  are  generally  Hindoo  painters.  On  woollen 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  379 

cloths  the  outlines  are  traced  with  chalk,  and  on  muslin  with 
pencil,  and  the  body  of  the  design  copied  from  coloured 
drawings.  The  embroiderers,  seated  upon  the  floor  around 
the  frame,  ply  the  needle  by  pushing  it  from,  instead  of 
towards,  them.  In  place  of  scissors  they  commonly  use  a 
piece  of  glass  or  China  ware  to  cut  the  thread. 

Anions:  the  embroidered  articles  those  from  Dacca  and 
from  Delhi  are  probably  the  best  known.  In  the  latter, 
small  shawls  and  scarves  are  chiefly  embroidered  both  with 
floss  and  twisted  silk  ;  in  the  former,  both  nets  and  muslins, 
with  floss  silk  of  various  colours.  But  Dacca  is  also  famous 
for  its  embroidery  of  muslins  with  cotton,  which  is  called 
chikankari  or  chikan-clozee,  and  of  which  specimens  of 
different  articles  of  clothing  have  been  sent  from  Calcutta; 
also  an  infant’s  robe  of  grass-cloth,  worked  at  Serampore, 
and  a  scarf  and  handkerchief,  pine-apple  fibre  from  Madras. 
One  kind  is  “  formed  by  breaking  down  the  texture  of  the 
cloth  with  the  needle,  and  converting  it  into  open  meshes.” 
Mr.  Taylor  states  that  Kashida  is  the  name  given  to  cloths 
embroidered  with  mug  a  silk  or  coloured  cotton  thread;  and 
though  generally  of  a  coarse  description,  gives  occupation 
to  a  number  of  the  Mahomedan  females  of  Dacca.  Though 
the  scarves  of  both  Delhi  and  of  Dacca  are  much  admired, 
it  has  been  suggested  to  me  by  a  lady,  that  muslins  or  nets, 
worked  so  as  to  be  suitable  for  making  ball-dresses,  would 
probably  be  in  great  demand,  as  those  which  arc  now  sold 
here  for  such  purposes  are  very  inferior  in  taste  and  elegance 
to  the  Indian  embroidery.  The  beetle-wing  embroidery 
from  Madras  wras  particularly  elegant :  and  the  velvet  awn¬ 
ings,  musnud  covers,  hookah  carpets,  and  elephant  trappings, 
embroidered  with  gold  and  silver,  chiefly  at  Moorshedabad 
and  Benares,  were  admired  as  well  for  richness  as  for  the 
skill  with  which  the  ground-work  was  allowed  to  relieve  the 
ornaments.  The  embroidered  saddles  and  saddle-cloths,  and 
floor-coverings  from  Pattiala,  Mooltan,  and  Lahore,  were  of 
the  usual  style  of  what  are  called  the  works  of  that  famed 
valley,  and  which  was  conspicuously  shown  in  the  dresses, 
caps,  and  slippers  from  Cashmere  itself.  But  that  the  skill 
and  taste  are  not  confined  to  one  part  of  India  was  also  to 
be  seen  in  the  table-covers  from  Tatta  in  Scinde,  and  in  the 


380  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

embroidered  boots  from  Khyrpoor,  which  have  been  immor¬ 
talized  by  Mr.  Digby  Wyatt. 

Though  not  coming  exactly  under  the  head  of  embroi¬ 
dery,  we  may  yet  mention  here,  on  account  of  a  similar  ef¬ 
fect  being  produced,  the  saddle-cloths  and  matchlock  accou¬ 
trements  from  the  Rajah  of  Kotah,  where  a  pattern  is 
produced  with  gold-headed  nails,  which  are  fixed  into  green 
velvet.  The  effect  of  this  was  so  good  as  to  be  greatly  ad¬ 
mired  by  some  of  the  best  judges,  and  among  others  by  our 
Chairman.* 

Jewellery. — Workers  in  iron  and  steel  could  never  have 
found  difficulty  in  managing  gold  and  silver,  for  which  in¬ 
deed  the  East  has  always  been  famous.  Working  in  gold 
was  familiar  to  the  Egyptians  before  the  exodus  of  the  Isra¬ 
elites.  Some  gold  has  always  been  washed  out  of  the  sand 
in  India.  Small  quantities  have  been  sent  to  the  Exhibi¬ 
tion  from  different  parts  of  the  country,  and  the  gold- 
washer’s  apparatus  from  Rohilcund.  That  the  Hindoos 
have  long  been  familiar  with  its  applications  we  find  in  the 
hymns  of  Rig  Veda,  where  golden  armour  and  golden 
chariots,  and  decorations  of  gold  and  jewels,  are  frequently 
mentioned.  The  variety  of  ornaments  and  of  arms  which  have 
been  displayed,  show  their  skill  in  working  it  up.  Mr.  Hamil¬ 
ton  sent  from  India  a  series  of  specimens  of  gold  and  silver  in 
different  stages,  to  show  the  process  of  making  gold  wire. 
The  rose  chain  from  Trichinopoly,  and  the  snake  chains  sent 
by  the  Rajah  of  Vizianagrum,  all  display  great  skill  in  the 
workmen,  as  also  the  silver  filagree  work  from  Hyderabad, 
for  which  Cuttack  and  Dacca  are  most  famous,  and  display 
greater  delicacy  and  beauty  than  either  Genoa  or  Malta. 
Much  of  the  jewellery  being  peculiar  in  form,  and  in  the 
ways  in  which  it  is  worn,  was  not  so  much  admired  in  this 
country  as  the  skill  of  the  workman  otherwise  deserved. 
The  articles  usually  made  in  filagree  work  are  bracelets,  ear¬ 
rings,  brooches,  and  chains,  groups  of  flowers,  uttardans, 
and  small  boxes  for  native  uses.  Of  all  these  beautiful  spe¬ 
cimens  were  sent.  Mr.  Taylor  says,  “  The  design  best 
adapted  for  displaying  the  delicate  work  of  filagree  is  that 
of  a  leaf ;  it  should  be  drawn  on  stout  paper,  and  of  the 

*  The  chair  was  on  this  occasion  occupied  by  Mr.  Owen  Jones 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  381 


exact  size  of  the  article  intended  to  he  made.  The  appara¬ 
tus  used  in  the  art  is  exceedingly  simple,  consisting  merely 
of  a  few  small  crucibles,  a  piece  of  bamboo  for  a  blow-pipe, 
small  hammers  for  flattening  the  wire,  and  sets  of  forceps 
for  intertwisting  it.” 

The  art  of  making  gold  wire,  that  is,  silver  covered  with 
gold,  as  shown  in  the  specimens  sent  by  Mr.  Hamilton,  is 
practised  in  various  parts  of  India,  as  Dacca  and  Hyderabad, 
as  well  as  Delhi  and  Benares.  “  Several  varieties  of  gold 
and  silver  thread  ( badla )  are  made  at  Dacca,  as  goolabatoon 
for  the  embroidery  of  muslins  and  silks ;  .goslioo  for  caps 
and  covering  the  handles  of  cliouries  ;  sumlah  for  turbans, 
slippers,  and  hookah-snakes  5  and  booiun  for  gold  lace  and 
brocades.”  Much  fringe  of  various  patterns  is  made,  and 
thin  tinsel  stamped  into  various  forms  of  flowers,  or  impressed 
with  excellent  imitations  of  jewels,  such  as  flat  diamonds, 
emeralds,  and  rubies. 

It  may,  perhaps,  have  escaped  notice  that  many  of  the 
ornaments  which  were  exhibited  were  such  as  are  made  only 
for  the  poorer  classes,  for  instance,  imitations  of  precious 
stones,  ornaments  in  pewter,  in  shell,  and  lac,  and  still 
simpler,  a  bracelet  with  straw  to  represent  the  gold,  and  the 
red  seeds  of  Abr us  precat orius  in  the  place  of  garnets. 

Carving. — The  term  Carving,  as  is  well  known,  is,  in  the 
present  day,  applied  to  the  cutting  into  particular  shapes 
and  patterns  different  materials,  such  as  wood,  horn,  and 
ivory.  Wood-carving  the  natives  must  have  practised  from 
very  early  times,  probably  for  their  idols,  as  well  as  for 
calico-printing,  as  they  have  long  used  wood-blocks  for  this 
purpose.  They  are  fond  of  carving  many  of  their  ordinary 
utensils,  as  spinning-wheels,  &c. ;  but  their  skill  was  shown 
in  the  carving  of  the  black  wood  furniture  from  Bombay, 
especially  in  the  elegance  of  the  patterns  of  the  backs  of  the 
chairs,  and  sofas,  in  the  side-boards  and  book-cases.  So 
also  in  the  ebony  screens  from  Madras,  carved  by  Moangapa 
Acliong,  a  native  carpenter  of  Madras,  without  any  Euro¬ 
pean  assistance.  Such  furniture  is  well  adapted  for  even 
the  best  English  houses. 

A  variety  of  specimens  of  carving  in  ivory  have  been  sent 
from  different  parts  of  India,  and  are  much  to  be  admired, 
whether  for  the  size  or  the  minuteness,  for  the  elaborateness 


882 


THE  ARAL'S  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 


of  detail  or  for  the  truth  of  representation.  Among  these 
the  ivory-carvers  of  Berhampore  are  conspicuous.  They 
have  sent  a  little  model  of  themselves  at  work,  and  using, 
as  is  the  custom  of  India,  only  a  few  tools. 

The  set  of  chessmen  carved  from  the  drawings  in  Bayard’s 
u  Nineveh,”  were  excellent  representations  of  what  they 
could  only  have  seen  in  the  above  work ;  showing  that  they 
are  capable  of  doing  new  things  when  required;  while  their 
representations  of  the  elephant  and  other  animals,  arc  so  true 
to  nature,  that  they  may  be  considered  the  works  of  real 
artists,  and  should  be  mentioned  rather  under  the  head  of 
Tine  Arts  than  of  mere  manual  dexterity. 

The  carvings  in  the  same  material  in  the  state  chair  from 
Travancore  were  greatly  admired,  and  from  the  truth  of 
representation  on  a  minute  scale,  where  an  elephant  is  en¬ 
closed  in  the  shell  of  a  pea,  from  Calicut ;  also  in  the  beau¬ 
tiful  specimens  of  minute  carving  sent  by  his  Highness  the 
Nizam  of  Hyderabad.  The  chouries,  or  fly-flappers,  where 
the  ivory,  or  sandal-wood,  is  cut  into  long  hair-like  threads, 
are  also  specimens  of  their  mechanical  skill ;  while  their 
skill  in  woodcarving  was  conspicuously  displayed  in  the 
elaborate  details  of  the  sandal-wood  boxes  from  the  Malabar 
coast,  and  also  in  the  Musjid  exhibited  by  Mr.  Mansfield 
from  Ahmedabad,  and  in  the  Hindoo  temples  from  Cutch, 
also  in  the  box,  made  of  an  African  wood,  from  the  Rao  of 
Cutch. 

But  the  skill  of  the  Indian  carver  is  conspicuously  shown 
in  the  beauty,  both  of  the  figures  of  the  Rajah  and  Ranee 
of  Travancore,  and  of  the  buildings,  in  so  soft  and  yielding 
a  material  as  pith,  or,  rather,  in  the  pith-like  stems  of  the 
marsh-plant  called  shola  ( jEschynomene  aspera).  In  the 
latter  all  the  elaborate  detail  of  the  richly  ornamented  Hin¬ 
doo  architecture  of  the  south  of  India  is  carefully  brought 
out.  Tor  this  work  only  two  tools  seem  to  be  employed, — 
one  a  large  and  heavy  knife,  the  other  with  a  fine  sharp  cut¬ 
ting  edge. 

Besides  these,  we  have  cocoa-nut  shells  and  gourds,  carved 
and  made  into  cups,  vases,  and  snuff-boxes;  also  the  kernel 
of  the  cocoa-nut  variously  cut,  for  making  garlands  for  state 
occasions. 

In  connexion  with  these  carved  works  might  be  mentioned 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 


383 


a  number  of  other  manufactures,  in  which  the  natives  dis¬ 
play  great  skill  and  neatness,  as  well  as  their  habitual  taste ; 
for  instance,  in  their  work  (and  other)  boxes  of  ivory,  horn, 
or  porcupine  quill,  ebony  and  sandal-wood,  their  fans  and 
umbrellas,  chouries,  and  khuskhus  or  other  baskets,  hookah- 
snakes,  imitation  fruits  and  flowers,  toys  and  puzzles. 

Among  these  I  ought  not  to  omit  mentioning  the  skill 
with  which  the  unyielding  substance  of  a  hard  thick  shell 
is  converted  into  necklaces  for  the  men  and  into  bracelets 
for  the  women.*  The  tools  as  well  as  the  shells  in  different 
stages  of  manufacture,  having  been  sent  by  Dr.  Wise  and 
by  Mr.  Mytton,  we  can  see  the  different  steps  of  the  pro¬ 
cess,  and  how  skilfully  means  are  adapted  to  ends. 

In  connexion  with  the  shell-workers  of  Dacca,  I  ought  to 
notice  the  works  in  horn  from  Yizagapatam,  in  the  Northern 
Circars,  as  well  as  from  Viziadroog  in  the  Concan,  in  which 
the  excellent  polish  of  all,  the  transparency  of  some,  and 
the  elegant  forms  of  others  of  the  articles,  show  that  the 
difficulties  of  the  manufacture  have  been  overcome  in  this, 
as  in  so  many  other  substances,  especially  in  the  articles 
prepared  by  a  carpenter  of  Viziadroog. 

Working  in  Stone. — Working  in  stone,  polishing  the 
hardest  surfaces,  engraving  its  surface  with  imperishable 
records,  and  sculpturing  it  into  various  forms,  even  exca¬ 
vating  gigantic  temples  out  of  the  solid  rock,  are  all  depart¬ 
ments  of  sculpture  aud  engraving  to  which  the  Hindoos 
have  paid  attention  from  the  earliest  times ;  and  their 
buildings  are  conspicuous  for  a  quality  for  which  those  of 
Egypt  have  often  been  admired  5  that  is,  the  exquisite 
polish  and  glass-like  appearance  of  some  of  the  hardest 
granite.  Dr.  Kennedy  has  fortunately  given  us  an  account 
of  the  process  by  which  they  effect  this.  “  The  tools,”  he 
says,  “  which  the  Hindoos  use,  are  a  small  steel  chisel  and 
an  iron  mallet.  The  chisel,  in  length,  is  not  more  than 

*  “The  manufacture  of  shell  bracelets  is  one  of  the  indigenous 
arts  of  Bengal,  in  which  the  caste  of  Sankari  at  Dacca  excel.  The 
chunks  of  which  they  are  made  are  large  concave  shells  ( valuta 
gravis,  Linn.),  from  six  to  seven  inches  long,  and  of  a  pure  white 
colour.  They  are  imported  into  Calcutta  from  Ramnad  and  South 
India,  opposite  to  Ceylon,  and  from  the  Maidive  Islands.” — 
Taylor. 


384  TIIE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 


about  twice  the  breadth  of  the  hand  of  the  Hindoo  work¬ 
man;  which,  as  is  well  known,  is  very  small;  and  it  tapers 
to  a  round  point  like  a  drawing-pencil.  The  mallet  also  is 
iron,  a  little  larger  than  the  chisel,  but  not  weighing  more 
than  a  few  pounds.  It  has  a  head  fixed  on  at  right  angles 
to  the  handle,  with  only  one  striking  face,  which  is  formed 
into  a  tolerably  deep  hollow,  and  lined  with  lead.  With 
such  simple  instruments  they  formed,  fashioned,  and  scooped 
the  granite  rock  which  forms  the  tremendous  fortress  of 
Dowlatabad,  and  excavated  the  wonderful  caverns  of  Ellora ; 
for  it  seems  by  no  means  probable  that  the  Hindoo  stone¬ 
cutters  ever  worked  with  any  other  tools.”  Dr.  Kennedy 
adds,  “  The  traces  of  the  pointed  chisel  are  still  visible  on 
the  rocks  of  Dowlatabad,  as  they  are  also  on  some  of  the 
great  works  of  Egypt.” 

The  stone  having  been  brought  to  a  smooth  surface,  it  is 
next  dressed  with  water  in  the  usual  way,  and  is  then 
polished  in  the  following  manner  : — 

A  block  of  granite,  of  considerable  size,  is  rudely  fash¬ 
ioned  into  the  shape  of  the  end  of  a  large  pestle.  The 
lower  face  of  this  is  hollowed  out  into  a  cavity,  and  this  is 
filled  with  a  mass  composed  of  pounded  corundum-stone, 
mixed  with  melted  bees-wax.  This  block  is  moved  by 
means  of  two  sticks,  or  pieces  of  bamboo,  placed  on  each 
side  of  its  neck,  and  bound  together  by  cords,  twisted  and 
tightened  by  sticks.  The  weight  of  the  whole  is  such  as 
two  workmen  can  easily  manage.  They  seat  themselves 
upon,  or  close  to,  the  stone  they  are  to  polish,  and  by 
moving  the  block  backwards  and  forwards  between  them, 
the  polish  is  given  by  the  friction  of  the  mass  of  wax  (and 
lac  ?)  and  corundum. 

Nearly  the  same  materials,  and  with  a  still  greater  degree 
of  success,  are  employed  in  polishing  such  delicate  articles 
as  beads  and  bracelets;  elegantly  shaped  cups,  or  the 
models  of  cannon.  Of  the  processes  employed,  a  very 
interesting  account,  which  is  published  in  the  “  Illustrated 
Catalogue,”  is  given  by  Mr.  Summer  of  Cambay.  The 
stones  are  first  fixed  on  a  steel  pike,  and  there  roughly 
rounded  with  an  iron  hammer,  and  then  polished  with  a 
composition  of  lac  and  corundum  variously  applied.  The 
holes  are  bored  with  a  steel  drill,  tipped  with  a  small  dia- 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  385 


monel.  Cups  and  saucers,  and  similar  hollow  articles,  are 
wrought,  according  to  the  required  external  shape,  on  the 
steel  pike,  and  a  rough  polish  given  on  the  rough  polishing- 
stones.  The  cavity  is  formed  by  the  diamond-tipped  drill 
to  the  depth  of  one-fourth  of  an  inch  all  over  the  space, 
until  it  exhibits  an  honeycombed  appearance;  the  promi¬ 
nent  places  round  the  holes  are  then  chipped  away;  and 
this  process  is  repeated  until  the  depth  and  form  desired 
are  obtained.  They  are  then  polished  upon  prepared 
moulds  of  convex  forms,  and  of  the  same  composition  as 
the  polishing-plates  which  are  attached  to  the  turning- 
wheel. 

The  materials  which  are  thus  worked  upon  are  the 
agates,  crystals,  and  cornelians,  as  well  as  blood-stones, 
found  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Cambay,  and  which  some 
people  fancied  must  have  been  sent  out  from  Germany,  but 
of  which  there  is  an  abundant  supply  in  India,  both  near 
Cambay,  and  in  the  Soane  and  Kane  rivers  far  to  the  east 
of  that  locality. 

The  above  relation  is  interesting,  not  only  on  its  own 
account,  but  also  as  explaining  how  the  beautiful  agate, 
jade,  and  crystal  cups,  which  were  purchased  at  Lahore, 
and  exhibited  in  the  jewel-cases  of  the  Indian  collection, 
may  have  been  made.  It  has  been  supposed,  that  the 
mode  ot  making  these  jewelled  cups  is  at  present  unknown. 
But  as  we  know  the  details  of  the  manufacture  at  Cambay, 
there  seems  no  insurmountable  difficulty  in  working  out  the 
agate  and  jade  cups  of  Lahore;  of  which,  though  some  are 
plain  and  polished,  others  have  their  surfaces  elegantly 
carved,  and  not  a  few  inlaid  with  precious  stones,  and  ail 
conspicuous  for  the  beauty  of  their  forms.  Can  these  dif¬ 
ferent  vessels  of  crystal,  agate,  and  jade,  be  the  famed 
Eastern  cups,  of  which  some  were  called  vasce  murrhince  ? 

Those  who  can  give  a  lustrous  polish  to  granite,  and 
appear  to  mould  crystal  cups  into  as  elegant  forms  as  the 
softest  clay,  can  find  no  difficulty  in  carving  sandstone  or 
in  cutting  marble.  But  the  elegance  and  variety  of  the 
patterns  into  which  both  sandstone  and  marble  are  cut,  is 
conspicuous  in  the  open  lattice-work  with  which  tombs  are 
surrounded  in  north-west  India.  These  are,  morever,  re¬ 
markable  for  the  light  and  aerial,  almost  lace-like  appear- 
S3 


386  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

ance,  with  which  they  impress  the  observer  at  a  little 
distance.  Two  good  specimens  of  these  screens  in  sand¬ 
stone  were  sent  from  Mirzapore,  and  on  a  smaller  scale 
from  Boondee.  The  same  elegant  style  of  work,  hut  of 
less  elaborate  patterns,  was  conspicuous  in  the  splendid 
marble  couches  and  chairs  presented  to  Her  Majesty  by  the 
Rajah  of  Nattore.  The  marble  vases  and  vessels  from  the 
Rajah  of  Johdpore  were  also  remarkable  for  elegance  of 
form  and  fineness  of  polish;  while  the  swans  and  fish, 
which  though  made  of  marble  yet  could  swim  on  water, 
showed  the  attention  paid  to  the  buoyant  effects  of  air  when 
enclosed  in  so  heavy  a  substance  as  stone.  The  stone-work 
from  Gaya  also  displays  the  skill  of  the  workmen;  but  here 
the  turning-lathe  has  also  been  employed  to  give  a  finish  to 
the  external  form  of  the  vessels :  but  the  dish  with  the  fig- 
leaves  carved  on  its  upper  surface  is,  for  its  thinness  and 
the  taste  displayed  in  its  design,  an  elegant  specimen  of 
carving  in  stone. 

The  Turning-lathe,  which  has  just  been  mentioned  as 
employed  for  giving  a  finish  to  the  external  forms  of  vessels 
of  stone,  is  also  employed  by  the  natives  for  wood-work, 
as  for  making  toys,  &c.  The  latter  are  much  esteemed  in 
India,  from  the  difficulty,  if  not  impossibility,  of  children 
being  able  to  remove  the  colour  from  their  surface,  in  con¬ 
sequence  of  the  covering  of  a  varnish  of  lac.  Some  beau¬ 
tiful  specimens  of  turning  have  been  sent  from  Bombay, 
in  the  shape  of  vases  and  boxes;  as  well  as  of  balls,  a 
number  of  which  are  contained  one  within  another.  The 
patterns  upon  these  various  articles  are  to  be  admired,  as 
well  as  their  external  forms.  They  were  made  at  Hydera¬ 
bad  in  Sindh. 


IV. — Fine  Arts. 

The  Fine  Arts,  as  the  term  is  generally  understood,  have 
not  attained  such  a  degree  of  excellence  in  India  as  to  bear 
any  favourable  comparison  with  the  state  of  the  fine  arts  in 
Europe;  yet  there  are  some  things  under  this  head,  and 
not  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Exhibition,  which  are  not  un¬ 
worthy  of  notice. 

Painting,  being  an  imitative  art,  must,  no  doubt,  have 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  387 


been  practised  in  some  form  by  all  tlie  nations  of  an¬ 
tiquity.  We  know  that  in  Egypt  hieroglyphics  preceded 
the  art  of  writing,  and  that  the  tombs  display  every  variety 
of  Egyptian  painting.  But  the  Hindoos  seem  never  to 
have  paid  great  attention  to,  or  excelled  in,  this  art;  though 
they  have  shown  their  good  sense  in  employing  artists 
to  design  patterns  for  their  textile  fabrics,  and  even  to 
draw  them  on  the  shawls  and  scarves  which  are  to  be  em¬ 
broidered. 

The  Hindoo  painters  are  admirable  delineators  of  objects 
of  natural  history;  hence,  most  of  the  illustrated  works 
which  have  been  published  on  the  Indian  branches  of  this 
subject  have  usually  been  drawn  by  native  artists,  several 
of  whom  are  constantly  employed  in  the  East  India  Com¬ 
pany’s  Botanic  Garden  at  Calcutta.  They  are  usually 
faithful  copyists,  but  are  often  objected  to  as  being  stiff 
in  their  style,  and  not  paying  sufficient  attention  to  per¬ 
spective  ;  but  this  is  hardly  worse  than  the  artistic  palm- 
trees  which  one  sees  in  European  drawings,  and  which  are 
very  unlike  those  with  which  Nature  adorns  her  own 
pictures. 

The  only  paintings  by  the  native  artists  which  we  have 
had  iu  the  Exhibition  are  several  series  in  talc,  some  from 
Trichinopoly,  and  the  others  from  Delhi :  the  latter  giving 
a  representation  of  the  different  officers  and  dresses  at  the 
Mahomedan  ceiemony  of  the  Mohurran,  and  of  the  different 
servants  in  the  employ  of  Europeans;  while  the  trades,  as 
well  as  many  agricultural  operations,  were  represented  in 
the  drawings  from  the  south. 

The  paintings  are  generally  small,  and,  therefore,  do  not 
attract  much  attention.  Some  of  those  painted  at  Delhi  on 
ivory  are  very  beautiful,  resemble  enamels,  and  are  fre¬ 
quently  worn  in  brooches  and  bracelets. 

Though  the  Indian  paintings,  as  those  mentioned,  are 
usually  small,  there  are  some  of  considerable  size  and  of 
great  antiquity  in  the  different  rock-hewn  temples  of 
Western  India.  Great  fears  having  been  entertained  that 
the  whole  might  iu  course  of  time  become  destroyed,  the 
Court  of  Directors  some  time  since  took  measures  to  have 
copies  of  all  of  them  made.  Several  of  these  from  the 


888  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

caves  of  Ajunta  have  arrived,  and  are  displayed  in  the 
library  of  the  India  House. 

Sculpture. — Under  the  head  of  Sculpture  many  things 
are  often  included  which  are  now  usually  considered  to  be 
distinct  branches  of  the  art :  some  consisting  in  the  art  of 
producing  figures  upon  wood,  gems,  or  metal;  while  the 
term  Statuary  is  confined  to  the  art  of  making  statues  or 
busts.  In  this  the  Indians  have  not  attained  any  excel¬ 
lence;  though  the  opportunities  are  great  of  seeing  the 
human  figure  as  well  at  the  ordinary  occupations  of  life  as 
in  their  gymnastic  schools,  and  they  have  had  considerable 
employment  in  sculpturing  the  figures,  though  grotesque, 
of  their  gods  and  goddesses.  Yet  that  they  are  capable  of 
excelling  in  this,  as  in  many  other  arts,  is  evident  from  the 
admirable  representations  of  the  different  castes  and  trades 
in  the  clay  figures  from  Ivishengurh  in  Bengal,  as  from 
Glokak,  near  Belgaum ;  so  also  in  the  ivory  carvings  of  the 
elephant,  camel,  &c.,  from  Berhampore,  and  in  the  stone 
sculptures  of  the  rhinoceros,  sacred  bull,  &c.,  from  Gyah. 
That  in  former  times  they  attempted  greater  things,  and 
with  considerable  success  in  ancient  times,  may  be  seen  in 
the  ruins  of  the  city  of  Mahamalaipoor  to  the  south  of 
Madras.  Bishop  Heber  describes  the  rocks  as  carved  out 
into  porticoes,  temples,  bas-reliefs,  &c.,  on  a  much  smaller 
scale  indeed  than  Elephanta  or  Kennary,  but  some  of  them 
very  beautifully  executed ;  and  the  bas-reliefs  of  a  pagoda 
at  Perwuttum  are  considered  as  some  of  the  most  ex¬ 
traordinary  specimens  of  art  in  all  India.  So  in  the  cave 
temples  of  Elephanta,  the  central  image  is  described  as 
composed  of  three  colossal  heads,  about  fifteen  feet  in 
height;  the  central  has  an  expression  of  undisturbed  com¬ 
posure;  the  one  on  the  left,  of  benevolence;  while  the 
third  is  calculated  to  strike  terror  into  the  beholder.  But 
these  temples,  as  well  as  those  in  Central  and  North¬ 
western  India,  contain  numerous  instances  of  sculpture  on 
a  gigantic  scale,  but  which  there  is  no  time  even  to  al¬ 
lude  to. 

Engraving,  though  defined  to  be  the  art  of  representing 
objects  by  cutting  wood,  stones,  and  gems,  or  metal,  is 
often  applied  only  to  such  works  as  are  intended  afterwards 
to  be  communicated  to  paper,  but  the  term  also  denotes 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  389 

some  ancient  branches  of  the  art,  as  gem,  and  seal,  also  die 
engraving,  of  which  we  have  some  reliques  of  antiquity 
which  excel  in  their  exquisite  polish.  Engraving  inscrip¬ 
tions  on  stone  is  one  of  the  most  durable  modes  of  pre¬ 
serving  records,  and  has  been  practised  in  the  East  from 
the  earliest  times  of  which  we  have  any  notice.  In  India 
the  long  inscriptions  of  Kapurdegiri,  Dhauli,  and  Girnar, 
show  that  the  art  must  have  been  practised  in  great  per¬ 
fection  at  periods  at  least  as  ancient  as  the  expedition  of 
Alexander.  The  lath  or  pillars  at  Delhi  and  Allahabad 
are  inscribed  with  similar  inscriptions ;  and  the  numerous 
plates  of  copper  which  have  been  found  in  all  parts  of 
India,  engraved  with  grants  or  agreements  for  leases  of 
land,  and  which  have  proved  the  most  authentic,  and  in 
many  instances  the  only,  records  of  lines  of  sovereigns, 
prove  how  general  has  been  the  prevalence  of  the  art  of 
engraving  in  all  parts  of  India.  The  engraved  seals  from 
Delhi,  which  were  in  the  Exhibition,  are  excellent  speci¬ 
mens  of  the  art  of  gem-engraving;  and  many  of  the 
precious  stones  have  been  inscribed  with  verses  from  the 
Koran,  which  enhance  their  value  in  the  eyes  of  their  Ma- 
homedau  wearers. 

As  a  gold  and  silver,  as  wrell  as  copper  coinage,  has  long 
existed  throughout  the  country,  it  might  be  supposed  that 
this  also  was  an  art  which  had  originated  in  India ;  but  I 
believe  that  the  careful  investigations  of  the  most  competent 
observers  have  not  traced  any  vestiges  of  the  art  beyond  the 
age  of  the  Seleucidce,  whose  purely  Greek  coins  are  suc¬ 
ceeded  by  some  having  a  Greek  inscription  on  one  side,  and 
an  Indian  on  the  other,  and  these  by  coins  having  a  native 
inscription  on  both  sides ;  and  this  through  a  long  series 
of  princes. 

liaising  figures  on  metal,  on  vessels,  or  on  precious  stones, 
is  likewise  an  original  Oriental  art ;  but  as  the  Persian 
worshippers  of  fire,  as  well  as  the  Mahoraedans,  objected  to 
images,  we  have  often,  therefore,  only  inscriptions  where  we 
might  have  had  raised  figures.  But  a  few  of  the  Hindoo 
vessels  are  ornamented  with  probably  sacred  figures,  or  of 
the  signs  of  the  zodiac,  or  with  Hindoo  mythology,  as  is  even 
a  sword-blade  from  Lahore. 

Mosaics  and  Inlaid  Work. — The  art  of  cutting  marbles 

33* 


390  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

and  still  harder  substances  into  patterns,  and  then  filling 
them  up  with  cornelians  and  precious  stones,  is .  pi  actised 
with  great  skill  in  the  northern  parts  of  India,  as.  is  e\  idont 
from  the  vessels  of  Jade  from  Lahore,  which  are  inlaid  with 
rubies,  emeralds,  and  diamonds,  and  which  have  been  re¬ 
ferred  to  before,  and  may  be  mentioned  again  under  this 
division.  So  the  marble  inkstands,  card-trays,  and  chess- 
tables,  inlaid  with  agates,  &c.,  from  Agra,  have  excited  ad¬ 
miration,  and  had  a  prize  awarded  them.  These  specimens 
are  conspicuous  for  the  clear  and  well-defined  insertion  of  the 
different  stones,  the  delicate  and  graceful  leaf  and  fl.owei- 
stalks,  as  well  as  for  the  happy  combination  of  colours  in  the 
flowers  and  patterns  represented.  It  is  supposed  that  this 
art  must  have  been  introduced  into  Iudia  in  the  time  of 
Acbar  or  of  Shah-jehan ;  for  in  buildings  erected  by  the 
former  at  Agra,  Bishop  Ilebcr  describes  the  ornaments,  caiv- 
ing,  and  mosaic  of  the  smaller  apartments  as  equal  or  supe¬ 
rior  to  anything  in  the  xVlhambra,  and  of  a  cascade  of  watei 
he  says,  that  it  gushes  through  marble  channels,  beautifully 
inlaid  with  cornelians,  agates,  and  jasper.  In  the  Taj-Mahul 
erected  by  Shah-jehan  in  memory  of  his  Begum,  xNooi-jehan, 
the  walls,  screens,  and  tombs,  are  covered  with  flowers,  and 
inscriptions,  executed  in  beautiful  mosaic,  of  cornelians, 
lapis-lazuli,  and  jasper.  These  I  have  seen  myself,  and  ad¬ 
mired,  as  well  as  similar  works  in  the  palace  of  Delhi.  They 
are  all  similar,  but  not  superior  in  workmanship,  to  the  pro¬ 
ductions  we  have  had  sent  to  the  Exhibition  from  the  living 
artists  of  Agra.  Drawings  are  sold,  both  at  Agra  and  Delhi, 
of  these  mosaics,  and  having  bought  them  when  there,  I  can 
refer  to  the  plants  which  are  represented.  These  ought  to 
give  some  indications  of  the  country  of  the  artists;  and 
though  they  do  not  appear  to  be  Indian,  yet  they  are  as  like 
those  of  Caubul  and  of  Persia  as  of  Europe.  The  crown 
imperial,  which  seems  to  be  one  of  those  represented,  is  a 
native  of  Cashmere  as  well  as  of  Europe.  If  the  art  war 
introduced  into  India  from  Italy,  the  people  may  boast  ol 
not  shaming  their  teachers.  _  . 

Enamels. — Having  already  called  attention  to  their  skill 
in  enamelling,  I  need  not  do  more  here  than  refer  to  the 
beauty  of  the  flowers,  birds,  &c.,  which  are  delineated,  and 
with  the  pleasing  harmony  of  the  colours  which  they  em- 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  IN  INDIA.  391 

ploy.  The  specimens  of  enamelled  arms  and  jewellery  from 
Cutch,  Scinde,  Kotah,  Dholepore,  Lahore,  and  Kangra,  show 
that  the  art  is  practised  with  the  greatest  skill  along  the 
north-west  frontier  of  India.  It  is  probable,  that  if  the  form 
of  the  articles  were  adapted  for  European  use  or  ornament, 
a  considerable  sale  might  take  place  here  of  the  best  enamels 
from  India.  A  good  account  of  the  mode  of  enamelling  in 
the  East  would  be  very  interesting,  and  might  afford  valu¬ 
able  hints. 

Patterns. — The  beauty  and  variety  of  patterns  in  the  vari¬ 
ous  articles  which  we  have  referred  to,  as  well  in  the  carved 
or  engraved,  as  in  the  painted,  printed,  woven,  or  embroi¬ 
dered  works,  combined  as  they  so  frequently  are  with  har¬ 
mony  of  colouring,  require  notice  in  this  section  of  our 
arrangement;  and,  as  I  have  elsewhere  said,  this  we  see, 
whether  we  examine  a  production  of  Dacca,  or  one  from 
Delhi,  Benares,  or  Ahmedabad,  Itajpootana,  or  Hyderabad, 
from  Madras  or  from  Mooltan,  Cashmere  or  Khyrpoor,  and 
whether  in  a  common  chintz  or  in  a  fabric  of  silk,  or  one 
enriched  with  silver  or  gold,  or  with  imitations  of  gems.  In 
all  we  see  the  utmost  variety  kept  in  bounds  by  the  nicest 
taste ;  for  even  the  most  flowery  and  gorgeous  appear  never 
to  exceed  what  is  suitable  to  the  material  and  the  purpose 
to  which  it  is  to  be  applied.  Mr.  Digby  Wyatt  supposes 
the  happy  effects  of  Indian  designers  to  be  due  to  the  re¬ 
finement  of  taste  engendered  by  their  traditional  education, 
and  that  this  precludes  their  toleration  of  any  departure 
from  those  harmonious  propoi’tions  which  the  practice  of 
ages  has  sanctioned  as  most  pleasing  and  agreeable;  Mr. 
Owen  Jones  states,  that  “one  guiding  principle  of  the 
ornamentation  of  the  Orientals  appears  to  have  been  that 
their  decoration  was  always  what  may  be  called  surface 
decoration.  The  patterns  of  their  shawls  and  carpets  are 
harmonious  and  effective,  from  the  proper  distribution  of 
forms  and  colours,  and  do  not  require  to  be  heightened  in 
effect  by  strong  and  positive  oppositions.  In  their  scroll¬ 
work,  the  ornament  and  the  ground  occupy  equal  areas. 
To  obtain  this  effect  requires  no  ordinary  skill,  and  it  can 
only  be  arrived  at  by  highly-trained  hands  and  minds.” 

Among  the  Fine  Arts,  Music  is  usually  included,  but  of 
this  I  have  no  intention  to  treat,  beyond  briefly  stating  that 


392  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

music  lias  been  paid  attention  to  by  the  Hindoos  from  very 
early  periods,  is  treated  of  in  their  ancient  works,  and  that 
it  is  acknowledged  by  competent  judges  to  be  constructed 
on  scientific  principles.  Also,  that  though  some  of  the  airs 
are  pleasing  to  European  ears,  yet  that  the  effect  is  gene¬ 
rally  considered  to  be  noisy  and  disagreeable.  Among 
manufactures,  we  may,  however,  notice  their  instruments, 
of  which  they  have  every  variety.  They  make  use  of  the 
natural  products  of  their  country  ;  as,  for  instance,  bamboos 
and  horns  for  pipes  and  blowing  instruments,  gourds  to  act 
as  sounding-boards  to  their  stringed  instruments.  The 
bamboo,  besides  being  used  for  pipes,  is  sometimes  formed 
into  a  compound  instrument,  in  which  bamboos  of  different 
sizes  and  lengths,  being  fixed  in  a  framework  of  lathe,  and 
shaken,  emit  different  sounds,  which  it  is  curious  to  observe 
are  strictly  tuned  to  octaves.  For  the  construction  of  their 
drums,  they  use  wood,  metal,  and  even  earthenware ;  and 
though  uncouth-looking,  it  is  remarkable  that,  as  far  as 
rhythm  is  concerned,  thhy  have  been  considered  by  com¬ 
petent  judges  to  be  superior  in  construction  to  European 
drums.  Among  the  Burmese  instruments  is  a  circular  one, 
within  which  drums  of  various  sizes  arc  suspended,  so  that 
each,  when  struck,  gives  a  different  note.  Many  of  these 
instruments  would,  no  doubt,  be  interesting  to  elucidate 
the  history  of  musical  instruments ;  for  it  is  probable  that 
many  have  remained  unchanged  from  very  early  periods. 

Architectural  Models. — Architecture  is  one  of  the  fine 
arts  which,  from  the  usual  permanence  of  its  materials, 
ought  to  enable  us  to  judge  of  the  antiquity  of  the  arts  in 
India,  and  of  the  different  degrees  of  merit  of  the  several 
races  who  have  inhabited  that  country.  But  the  destruc¬ 
tive  effects  of  the  climate,  deluged  at  one  time  with  inces¬ 
sant  rain,  and  parched  up  by  a  furnace-like  heat  at  another, 
is  very  unfavourable  to  the  permanence  of  buildings,  espe¬ 
cially  as  the  soil  is  in  many  parts  impregnated  with  various 
salts,  which  corrode  the  walls  at  the  surface  of  the  ground, 
at  the  same  time  that  the  seeds  of  the  sacred  fig-tree,  or 
peepul  ( Ficus  religiosa ),  will  vegetate  on  the  top  of  a  wall, 
the  ledge  of  a  pyramid,  or  the  smallest  crack  in  a  dome,  and 
sending  its  roots  downwards,  even  between  the  dryest  stones 
and  mortar,  will,  in  course  of  time,  destroy  some  of  the 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  393 

most  substantial  buildings.  Among  the  models  sent  to  the 
Exhibition,  we  have  bad  specimens  of  some  of  the  styles  of 
architecture  which  prevail  in  India ;  for  instance,  the  carved 
wooden  models  of  the  musjids  or  mosques  from  Ahmedabad, 
give  us  specimens  of  the  Saracenic  style  which  was  intro¬ 
duced  by  the  Mahomedans,  and  of  which  so  many  splendid 
remains  are  to  be  seen  in  the  tombs  round  Agra  and  Delhi. 
Of  the  Buddhistic  architecture,  which  is  conspicuously  dis¬ 
played  in  the  rock-cut  temples  of  Elephanta,  Ellora,  &c., 
and  which  has  been  so  amply  illustrated  by  Mr.  James 
Fergusson,  we  have  had  no  specimens;  nor  of  the  Jain  tem¬ 
ples  of  Bajpootana,  which  have  been  described  by  Colonel 
Tod  as  monuments  of  simple  grandeur  or  of  elaborate  ele¬ 
gance.  But  the  stone  models  of  the  Hindoo  temples  sent 
from  Benares  and  Mirzapore  give  a  very  correct  idea  of  the 
general  pyramidal  appearance  of  such  temples  in  the  Gan- 
getic  valley.  The  various  varieties  in  Hindoo  sacred  archi¬ 
tecture  are,  according  to  Colonel  Tod,  distinguished  by  the 
forms  of  the  pinnacles,  which  spring  from  and  surmount  the 
perpendicular  walls  of  the  body  of  the  temple.  The  ivory¬ 
like  yet  pith  models  of  the  Nagossorun  pagoda  at  Couba- 
concan,  and  of  the  unfinished  entrance  to  the  pagoda  at 
Strearangum,  give  a  good  idea  of  the  pyramidal  yet  trun¬ 
cated  and  elaborately-sculptured  temples  of  the  south  of 
India.  I  will  not  attempt  to  enter  into  the  peculiarities  of 
each  of  these  styles,  as  that  would  require  a  lecture  to  itself 
by  one  competent  to  the  task;  nor  have  I  attempted  to  trace 
these  to  any  extraneous  sources,  because  I  believe  them  all, 
with  the  exception  of  the  first,  to  be  original  productions  of 
India,  and  well  worthy  the  attention  of  architects  who  study 
the  history  and  vast  variety  of  their  science. 

Conclusion. 

Having  thus  taken  a  general  view  of  most  of  the  arts 
and  manufactures  of  India,  as  displayed  at  the  late  Ex¬ 
hibition,  I  may  briefly  refer  to  the  omissions,*  such,  for 

*  Among  these,  mixed  fabrics  may  be  noted,  as  more  ought  to 
have  been  said  of  the  various  mixtures  of  silk  and  cotton,  wool  and 
cotton,  wool  and  silk,  &c.,  which  are  made  in  India.  Some  com¬ 
posing  the  entire  fabric;  others,  in  alternate  stripes  or  checks  of 
the  two  materials. 


394  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  GF  INDIA. 

instance,  as  their  different  tools  and  models  of  their  simple 
machinery,  as  well  as  of  their  shipping.  The  former  would 
have  afforded  abundant  opportunity  for  remark,  as  well  as 
for  admiring  the  ingenuity  with  which  important  ends  are 
attained  by  simple  means j  but  as  the  tools  have  been 
carefully  examined  by  a  most  competent  professor,  and  the 
collection  will  not  be  dispersed,  opportunities  will  occur  to 
others  for  observation.  Among  the  models  of  shipping  it 
would  have  been  interesting,  if  I  had  felt  equal  to  the  task, 
to  have  examined  the  forms  of  such  as  are  remarkable  for 
their  swiftness,  especially  as  some  of  these  are  said  to  out¬ 
sail  any  European  craft  against  which  they  have  been  matched, 
and  the  lines  of  the  Sampan  of  the  Malayan  seas  are  said  to 
correspond  very  closely  with  those  of  the  now  famed  “Ame¬ 
rica.”  But  time  will  not  allow  to  do  more  than  to  allude 
to  such  subjects  for  the  purpose  of  attracting  the  attention 
of  others. 

Before  concluding,  I  trust  I  may  be  allowed  to  make  a 
few  observations  on  what  may  appear  to  many  the  too 
favourable  view  which  I  have  taken  of  the  state  of  the  arts 
in  India.  In  the  first  place,  it  should  be  remembered  that 
the  several  specimens  have  generally  been  sent  from  the 
places  where  the  respective  mechanics  and  artists  have 
attained  the  greatest  skill;  and  secondly,  that  in  most 
instances  the  articles  have  been  selected  by  committees  of 
European  gentlemen.  This  would,  however,  have  been  of 
little  avail,  if  the  natives  who  produced  the  articles  did  not 
themselves  possess  both  skill  and  taste ;  but  the  process 
may  have  excluded  some  things  which  did  not  come  under 
this  category.  Europeans  in  India  are,  in  general,  little 
given  to  over-estimate  Indian  productions,  and  their  true 
value  has  only  been  determined  by  the  observations  of  many 
of  the  best  qualified  judges  at  the  recent  Great  Exhibition. 
Though  many  of  the  officers  of  the  various  Indian  com¬ 
mittees  have  stated  that  much  more  highly-finished  articles 
might  have  been  sent  if  more  time  had  been  alkrwed  for 
their  preparation,  yet  Europeans,  in  general,  speak  and 
write  disparagingly  of  the  different  manufacturing  processes 
adopted  by  the  natives  in  India.  Thus,  without  making 
sufficient  allowance  for  the  simplicity  of  the  means  by  which 
they  attain  important  ends,  and  for  which  others  require 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  395 

a  complicated  apparatus,  we  have  observations  on  the  rude¬ 
ness  of  the  processes,  and  this  without  adverting  to  the 
curious  fact  of  uneducated  natives  being  found  in  almost 
every  bazaar  who  can  make  alloys,  colour  glass,  and  work 
enamels  by  methods  which  are  unknown  in  Europe.  Ano¬ 
ther  great  anomaly,  often  animadverted  upon,  is  the  ap¬ 
parently  unfinished  state  of  some  productions,  and  how  ill- 
assorted  are  the  different  parts  of  other  made-up  articles ; 
as,  for  instance,  where  we  see  a  coarse  iron  ring  in  the 
midst  of  elaborately-worked  gold  and  silver  trappings.  But 
we  may  see  the  same  anomaly  in  a  highly-finished  French 
clock,  with  a  key  which  in  England  would  be  thought  unfit 
for  a  common  cupboard.  But  this  is  a  point  connected 
with  a  more  general  subject,  that  is,  the  causes  which  in¬ 
fluence  the  greater  or  less  developement  of  the  several  arts 
and  manufactures  in  different  countries.  I  refrain  from 
pursuing  it,  but  refer  to  another  subject,  that  is,  the  immo¬ 
bility,  as  it  has  been  called,  of  the  natives  of  India,  and  of 
their  remaining  stationary  at  points  which  they  seem  to 
have  reached  many  ages  ago.  But  this  is  far  better  than 
the  retrograde  progress  of  other  nations,  which  were  civilized 
at  as  early  periods.  Though  we  are  without  the  means  of 
accurate  comparison  with  the  state  of  the  arts  in  India  at 
earlier  periods,  yet  in  some  of  them  we  have  seen,  that,  if 
stationary,  they  are  so  only  at  points  which  others  have 
hardly  yet  reached.  That  the  natives  are  capable  of  at¬ 
taining  almost  any  degree  of  excellence  in  the  various  arts, 
we  have  the  most  convincing  proofs  in  the  specimens  now 
before  us,  and  which  form  a  very  small  part  of  the  Indian 
collection.  If  other  proofs  are  required  we  have  them  in 
the  works  which  are  turned  out  from  the  different  Govern¬ 
ment  magazines  and  arsenals,  and  of  which  we  have  nume  ¬ 
rous  specimens  in  the  accoutrements  and  models  of  artillery 
from  the  different  Presidencies.  The  same  may  be  observed 
in  the  teak  shipping  built  at  Bombay.  In  addition  to  these 
several  works  produced  under  Government  officers,  we 
might  adduce  the  several  manufactures  carried  on  by  Euro¬ 
peans  in  India;  of  these  we  had  specimens  of  harness,  and 
dress  boots,  sent  by  Messrs.  Monteith  of  Calcutta,  which 
would  have  done  credit  to  any  shop  either  in  London  or 
Paris.  The  same  might  be  said  of  the  model  of  the  palan-» 


396  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

quin  by  Mr.  Simpson,  from  Madras,  or  of  the  specimens 
of  ropes,  an  imitation  of  those  in  use  in  Europe,  by 
Messrs.  Harton,  of  Calcutta,  and  which,  if  made  with  the 
Rhea  fibre  of  Assam,  would  be  stronger  than  any  in  Europe. 
The  saw-gins  made  up  in  India  by  native  mechanics  have 
been  found  to  be  as  efficient  for  cleaning  cotton  as. the 
machines  sent  out  from  this  country  and  from  America ; 
while  the  delicacy  as  well  as  accuracy  of  native  work  may 
be  seen  in  the  coin-sorting  machine  of  Major  Smith,  of  the 
Madras  Engineers,  for  which  a  Prize  medal  was  awarded 
by  the  Jury  of  Class  X. 

But  still  greater  and  more  widely  diffused  effects  than 
the  above  may  be  expected  from  the  influence  of  the  dif¬ 
ferent  schools  and  colleges  which  have  been  established  in 
various  parts  of  India,  especially  as  some  of  these  purpose 
imparting  mechanical  and  scientific  information,  in  addition 
to  a  knowledge  of  languages ;  and  we  have  seen  the  great 
benefits  which  have  been  derived  from  the  establishment 
of  the  several  medical  colleges  at  the  different  presidencies. 
Some  of  the  results  produced  by  the  School  of  Arts  at 
Madras,  under  the  superintendence  of  Dr.  Hunter,  have 
been  shown  at  the  Exhibition,  in  the  improved  pottery,  for 
which  a  Prize  medal  was  awarded.  A  school  for  elemen¬ 
tary  mathematical  knowledge  and  mechanical  science  has 
been  established  by  Col.  Cautley,  at  Roorkee,  the  head¬ 
quarters  of  the  great  Ganges  canal,  now  in  course  of  forma¬ 
tion.  There  it  is  proposed  to  instruct  both  Europeans  and 
natives  in  the  several  subjects  which  will  qualify  them  for 
situations,  not  only  on  the  canal,  but  probably  also  on  rail¬ 
ways.  The  college  at  Poonah  has  determined  on  including 
instruction  in  the  principles  of  the  mechanical  arts  in  their 
course  of  education ;  some  machines  have  already  been  im¬ 
ported,  and  among  others,  the  improved  hand-loom  :  with 
the  flying  shuttle  of  this  the  weavers  of  Poonah  were  greatly 
astonished  and  pleased.  Professor  Cowper  has  been  applied 
to,  to  devise  models  of  machinei'y  fitted  for  the  use  of  the 
natives  of  India,  and  has  already  constructed  a  throstle 
spinning-machine  to  be  worked  by  hand,  which  he  has 
brought  here  this  evening,  and  will,  I  hope,  show  to  the 
members  after  the  Lecture.  [This  was  done.] 

But,  even  without  any  mechanical  improvements,  which 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  397 

may  assist  in  cheapening  some  of  their  products,  there  are 
enough,  which  are  the  produce  of  their  patient  habits  and 
wonderful  delicacy  of  hand,  and  are  also  examples  of  purity 
of  taste,  which  may  command  a  sale  in  European  markets. 
Though  the  Muslins,  both  plain  and  flowered,  are  greatly 
admired,  yet,  as  being  the  produce  of  many  months  of  hand 
labour,  they  are  unable  to  compete  in  price  with  those 
which  are  the  produce  of  European  machinery ;  but  as  they 
are  still  preferred  in  India,  a  few  may  continue  to  be  bought 
in  Europe.  Their  Calico  Prints,  Flowered  Silks,  and  rich 
Kimkhobs,  being  much  admired  for  their  patterns,  may  be 
applied  to  a  variety  of  ornamental  purposes ;  if  not  of  dress, 
still  of  decorative  furniture.  The  Shawls  of  Cashmere  still 
continue  unrivalled,  and  command  the  highest  prices.  The 
Embroidery  being  equal  to  anything  produced  elsewhere, 
only  requires  that  the  things  embroidered  be  fitted  for  Eu¬ 
ropean  use,  since  the  cheapness  of  all  hand-work  in  India 
will  insure  the  prices  being  reasonable.  The  manufacture 
of  Lace  at  Nagercoil  may  be  safely  undertaken ;  and  the 
Carpets,  Pugs,  and  Carved  Furniture,  would  command  a 
ready  sale  if  offered  at  rates  moderate  in  proportion  to  the 
cost  in  India.  The  Wootz  Steel  might  be  largely  consumed, 
and  the  highly-wrought  Arms  would  be  bought  as  curiosi¬ 
ties,  as  well  for  the  artistic  skill  displayed  in  the  cutlery  as 
in  the  inlaying.  Well-shaped  Pottery  and  the  highly- 
finished  Biclery  ware,  as  well  as  the  Lacquered  boxes  of 
Cashmere,  would  all  be  bought,  as  also  the  various  works 
of  Bombay -inlaying,  of  Ivory,  Horn,  Ebony,  and  Sandal¬ 
wood,  likewise  Mats,  Baskets  of  Khuskhus,  and  of  other 
materials,  and  Japanned  Boxes.  To  these  we  may  add  the 
polished  Agate-ware  of  Cambay,  the  Inlaid  Marbles  of  Agra, 
and  the  Enamels  of  Cutch,  Scinde,  and  of  north-west  India; 
also  the  Filagree  work  of  Cuttack,  Dacca,  and  Delhi,  as  well 
as  of  other  places;  likewise  some  native  Jewellery,  if  made 
in  the  forms  fitted  for  European  use.  Even  the  Toys  would 
command  a  sale,  and  the  Models  of  Fruits,  as  well  as  the 
Figures  of  Natives  of  different  castes  and  trades,  would  find 
purchasers  if  they  could  be  easily  procured. 

That  I  may  not  appear  singular,  especially  to  people  in 
India,  in  my  estimation  of  the  value  of  these  Indian  pro¬ 
ducts,  I  would  beg,  before  concluding,  to  adduce  some  un- 
34 


398  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 


connected  and  independent  testimonies.  For  this  I  may 
first  refer  to  the  articles  in  “  The  Times,”  which  were  distin¬ 
guished  as  much  by  their  talent  as  their  discriminative  cri¬ 
ticism.  “  Turning  to  the  class  of  manufactured  articles, 
we  find  the  long-established  industries  of  the  Indian  Penin¬ 
sula  asserting  their  excellence  in  a  manner  at  once  charac¬ 
teristic  and  extraordinary.  The  same  skill  in  goldsmiths’ 
work,  in  metals,  in  ivory-carving,  in  pottery,  in  mosaics,  in 
shawls,  in  muslins,  and  carpets,  wras  attained  by  those  in¬ 
genious  communities  which  now  practise  them  ages  and 
ages  ago.  Yet,  in  these  things,  which  the  natives  of  India 
have  done  well  from  time  immemorial,  they  still  remain  un¬ 
surpassed.” — April  25.  And  again,  “  Yet,  in  another 
point  of  view,  these  remarkable  and  characteristic  collections 
have  a  value  that  can  hardly  be  overrated.  By  their  sug¬ 
gestiveness  the  vulgarities  in  art-manufactures,  not  only  of 
England  but  of  Christendom,  may  be  corrected ;  and  from 
the  carpets,  the  shawls,  the  muslins,  and  the  brocades  of 
Asia,  and  from  much  of  its  metallic  and  earthenware  pro¬ 
ducts,  can  be  clearly  traced  those  invaluable  rules  of  art,  a 
proper  definition  and  recognition  of  which  form  the  great 
desiderata  of  our  more  civilized  industrial  systems.” — Times , 
July  4. 

So,  M.  Blanqui,  in  his  “  Rapport”  to  the  “Academie  des 
Sciences  Morales  et  Politiques  de  lTnstitut,”  observes,  “  Les 
produits  de  l’Inde  Britannique  meritent  F  attention  du  tech- 
nologue  autant  que  celle  du  philosophe  et  de  Feconomiste. 
II  y  a  vraitneut  un  art  Indien  qui  a  un  cachet  de  distinction 
comme  l’art  Frangais,  et  de  plus  une  originalite  souvent 
dlegante  et  de  bon  gout. 

“  Cette  brillante  partie  de  F Exposition  a  produit  l’effet 
d’une  revelation.  Elle  a  ete  si  complete,  si  riche,  si  bien 
agencee,  qu’elle  representait  l’Orient  tout  entier  depuis  les 
temps  les  plus  recules  jusqu’a  nos  jours. — Les  Indiens  sont 
les  Frangais  de  F Orient  pour  le  genie  industriel :  il  ne  leur 
manque  que  nos  connaissances  positives  ;  mais  ils  sont  aussi 
artistes  dans  leur  genre  que  nos  plus  habiles  dessinateurs  de 
Paris,  de  Lyon,  et  de  Mulhouse,”  &c. — P.  238. 

Again,  in  his  letters,  M.  Blanqui  says,  “C’est  tout  un 
monde  industriel  nouveau  pour  nous,  par  son  antiquite 
meme,  qui  remonte  aux  temps  hero'iques,  et  par  son  carac- 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  399 

tere  d’originalite  a  nul  autre  semblable.  Depuis  le  com¬ 
mencement  de  l’Exposition,  nous  voyons  tous  les  jours  ap- 
paraitre  des  produits  nouveaux,  plus  admirables  les  uns  que 
les  autres,  et  qui  attirent  au  plus  haut  degre  l’attention  des 
visiteurs. 

“  L’art  Indien  merite,  en  efiet,  cette  preference :  il  ne 
ressemble  a  aucun  autre.  II  n’a  point  la  bizarrerie  du  gout 
Chinois,  ni  la  regularity  Grecque  et  Romaine,  ni  la  vulgarite 
moderne :  e’est  un  art  a  part,  consequent  avec  lui-meme, 
plus  sobre  qu’on  ne  pense  j  usque  dans  ses  ecarts,  et  qui 
semble  n’avoir  jamais  varie  ni  emprunte  quelque  chose  a 
autrui.  Dans  la  ceramique,  il  est  plein  de  grace  et  de  sim¬ 
plicity,”  &c. — P.  79. 

“  Evidemment,  l’art  de  tisser  les  etoffes  est  arrive,  dans  ce 
pays,  a  un  etat  fort  avance.  Sans  parler  des  chales  de  Cache- 
mire,  qui  sont  devenus  les  types  du  genre,  tout  ce  que  la 
Oompagnie  des  Indes  a  expose  semble  une  collection  de 
chefs-d’oevre.  Moussellines  brodees  d’or,  fichus  diapre4s  de 
milles  couleurs,  echarpes  eclatantes  du  gout  le  plus  exquis, 
tapis  de  table  emailles  de  fleurs,  tissus  de  toute  espece  nielUs 
de  vert  emeraude,  selles,  manteaux,  etoffes  pour  tentures, 
mouchoirs  d’odalisqucs  a  petits  carreux  d’un  rouge  tendre, 
quadrilles  d’argent,  toutes  les  nuances  que  le  nature  a  pro- 
diguee  aux  ailes  des  papillons  se  retrouvent  dans  cette  col¬ 
lection  Indienne,  qu’une  Compagnie  aussi  puissante  que 
celle  des  Indes  pouvait  seule  reuuir  par  ses  ordres  souverains. 
L’  Orient  tout  entier  est  accouru  a  sa  voix.” 

I  may  fitly  conclude  these  quotations  -with  an  extract  from 
a  letter  of  the  Government  Committee  for  the  selection  of 
articles  for  the  use  of  the  Schools  of  Design,  addressed  to 
J.  C.  Melvill,  Esq.,  Secretary  to  the  Honourable  East  India 
Company.  “  We  have  to  request  that  you  will  acquaint  the 
Court  of  Directors,  that  having  duly  examined  the  collec¬ 
tion  exhibited  by  the  Court,  we  have  found  it  to  contain, 
beyond  any  other  department  of  the  Exhibition,  objects  of 
the  highest  instructional  value  to  students  in  design,  and 
that  we  have  selected  the  accompanying  list  of  articles  from 
their  collection,  which  we  express  a  hope  may  be  secured 
for  the  benefit  of  the  Schools.”  The  Committee  selected 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty ;  as  some  belonged  to  private 
individuals,  they  were  able  to  purchase  nearly  two  hundred 


400  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA. 

articles  out  of  the  Indian  collection  for  the  use  and  im¬ 
provement  of  the  Schools  of  Design  in  this  country. 

After  these  favourable  testimonies,  I  regret  that  I  am 
unable  to  conclude  this  subject  with  a  notice  of  the  several 
medals  which  have  been  awarded  to  the  native  manufac¬ 
turers  of  the  various  textile  fabrics,  from  muslins  to  carpets, 
or  to  the  producers  of  the  several  other  works  in  which 
manual  dexterity  was  combined  with  taste ;  for,  with  the 
exception  of  the  mosaics  from  Agra,  and  the  sandal-wood 
carving  from  the  Malabar  coast,*  the  rest  must  be  enu¬ 
merated  among  the  omissions  with  which  the  interna¬ 
tional  juries  have  been  charged.  That  the  articles  exhi¬ 
bited  were  not  without  sufficient  merit  is  evident  from  the 
testimonies  which  I  have  quoted,  as  well  as  from  the  uni¬ 
versal  admiration  which  they  excited.  A  French  gentle¬ 
man  to  whom  I  mentioned  the  fact,  while  he  was  enthusi¬ 
astically  admiring  the  various  works,  pithily  observed,  “  Tant 
pis  pour  les  jureurs.”  But  though  it  would  have  been 
graceful  for  the  judges  of  the  West  to  have  sent  some  to¬ 
kens  of  their  approval  to  the  absent  and  anxious  manufac¬ 
turers  of  the  East,  these  may  yet  enjoy  the  proud  consola¬ 
tion  of  thinking,  that  a  Committee  of  the  British  Govern¬ 
ment,  composed  of  some  of  the  best  judges,  found  the 
Indian  collection  to  contain  beyond  any  other  department 
of  the  Exhibition  objects  of  the  highest  instructional  value 
to  students,  and  supported  their  opinion  by  extensive  pur¬ 
chases;  while  a  representative  of  France  has  pronounced 
them  to  be  “the  Frenchman  of  the  East  for  industrial 
talent.” 


In  the  course  of  his  remarks  on  the  foregoing  Lecture, 
and  on  the  striking  examples  of  Indian  art  and  manufacture, 
which,  by  the  kindness  of  the  Court  of  Directors  of  the  lion. 
East  India  Company,  were  exhibited  in  illustration  of  it, 
Mr.  Owen  Jones,  the  Chairman,  observed,  that  with  all  the 

*  The  latter  was  voted  to  the  European  owner  of  a  sandal-wood 
box ;  but  the  medal  for  Agra  Mosaics  to  the  East  India  Company. 
This  will  be  sent  to  the  producer  in  India,  as  the  Court  of  Direc¬ 
tors  promised  to  make  over  any  prizes  to  the  parties  from  whom 
the  articles  which  might  be  rewarded  had  been  purchased. 


THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES  OF  INDIA.  401 

artists  of  England  with  whom  he  was  acquainted,  as  well  as 
with  foreign  visiters,  he  had  found  hut  one  opinion, — -viz., 
that  the  Indian  and  Tunisian  articles  were  the  most  perfect 
in  design  of  any  that  appeared  in  the  Exhibition.  The  op¬ 
portunity  of  studying  them  had  been  “  a  boon  to  the  whole 
of  Europe.”  Many  have  been  purchased  by  Government 
for  the  use  of  the  Schools  of  Design, — and  will  no  doubt  be 
extensively  circulated  throughout  the  country.  But  it  is  to 
be  hoped,  said  Mr.  Jones,  that  they  will  do  more  than  merely 
teach  us  to  copy  the  Indian  style.  If  they  only  led  to  the 
origination  of  an  Indian  style,  he  w'ould  think  their  influence 
only  hurtful.  11  The  time  has  arrived,”  he  added,  “  when 
it  is  generally  felt  that  a  change  must  take  place — and  we 
must  get  rid  of  the  causes  of  obstruction  to  the  art  of  design 
which  exist  in  this  country.  Ever  since  the  Reformation, 
when  a  separation  took  place  between  religion  and  art,  Eng¬ 
land  has  not  had  anything  like  a  style  of  her  own.  In  every 
country  which  is  under  the  influence  of  a  particular  religion, 
there  a  peculiar  style  of  art  is  created.  Such  is  the  case 
with  the  Mohamedaus,  Greeks,  and  others. — There  now 
seems  to  be  a  general  feeling  and  desire  for  art,  and  some¬ 
thing  must  be  done.  I  think  the  Government  may  be  in¬ 
duced  to  assist  in  forming  schools  throughout  the  country 
on  a  different  footing  from  that  on  which  they  are  at  present 
established.  We  see  in  the  ornaments  and  articles  from 
India  the  works  of  a  people  who  are  not  allowed  by  their 
religion  to  draw  the  human  form,  and  it  is  probable  that  to 
this  cause  we  may  attribute  their  great  success  in  their  or¬ 
namental  works.  Here  in  Europe  we  have  been  studying 
drawing  from  the  human  figure,  but  it  has  not  led  us  forward 
xn  the  art  of  ornamental  design.  Although  the  study  of  the 
human  figure  is  useful  in  refining  the  taste  and  teaching 
accurate  observation,  it  is  a  roundabout  way  of  learning  to 
draw  for  the  designer  for  manufactures.  It  is  to  be  hoped, 
as  this  Society  is  assisting  in  the  formation  of  elementary 
schools,  that  it  may  be  able  to  find  a  better  means  of  pro¬ 
ducing  the  result  in  question.” 


February  18,  1852. 


LECTURE  XII. 


ON  THE  PROGRESS  OF  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE, 
AS  INDICATING  THE  NECESSITY  FOR  SCIEN¬ 
TIFIC  EDUCATION,  AND  FOR  THE  CLAS¬ 
SIFICATION  OF  SHIPS  AND  OF 
STEAM-ENGINES:  ALSO, 

ON  LIFE-BOATS. 


CAPTAIN  WASHINGTON,  R.N.  F.R.S. 


(403) 


CAPTAIN  WASHINGTON,  R.  N. 


ON 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE, 
AND  ON  LIFE-BOATS. 


The  progress  of  Naval  Architecture,  as  illustrated  by  the 
models  of  boats  and  shipping  collected  together  in  the  Great 
Exhibition — in  that  vast  building,  along  the  avenues  and 
galleries  of  which  we  all  lately  wandered  day  by  day,  daz¬ 
zled  with  the  treasures  and  wonders  of  art — forms  an  in¬ 
teresting  and  instructive  study.  Who  could  fail  to  be  struck 
by  the  contrast  presented  by  the  ancient  Celtic  boat,  the 
curragh,  still  in  use  for  fishing  on  the  north-west  coast  of 
Ireland,  or  the  equally  primitive  coracle  daily  used  for  sal¬ 
mon-fishing  in  the  rivers  of  Wales,  as  compared  with  the 
magnificent  specimen  of  the  Queen ,  one  of  the  largest  and  . 
most  beautiful  ships  of  the  British  navy,  which,  in  the  centre 
of  the  north  transept,  arrested  the  eye  of  the  observer,  as 
soon  as  the  gorgeous  and  overpowering  coup  d’oeil  that  burst 
on  us  all  at  entering,  gave  leisure  to  reflect. 

Amidst  the  sparkling  of  the  crystal  fountain,  backed  by 
a  forest  of  tropical  plants,  and  with  the  rich  hangings  of 
Persia  and  India  on  either  hand,  there  sate  the  Queen  of 
the  ocean,  simple,  severe,  yet  beautiful  in  form,  a  type  of 
the  progress  of  art  as  applied  to  ship-building  during  the 
last  eighteen  centuries.  The  transition  from  the  incon¬ 
venient  and  unsightly  forms  of  antiquity  to  the  graceful 
outline  and  imposing  contour  of  a  first-class  ship-of-war,  is 
no  less  remarkable  as  an  indication  of  progress  in  this 


406 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE  : 


science,  than  instructive  as  practical  evidence  of  the  con¬ 
sistency  of  beauty  of  form  with  those  qualities  of  speed, 
strength,  stowage,  and  stability,  which  are  essential  in  such 
structures. 

The  Exhibition  of  1851,  although  rich  in  beautiful  models 
showing  the  present  state  of  naval  architecture,  afforded  only 
in  a  small  degree  the  opportunity  of  tracing  the  successive 
steps  in  the  history  of  ship-building.  It  is  true  that  there 
might  be  seen  the  primitive  British  coracle  of  wickerwork 
covered  with  hide,  carrying  us  back  in  imagination  to  the 
time  of  our  forefathers,  and  its  contemporary,  a  Roman  war- 
galley;  but  from  that  period  we  jump  over  some  centuries 
until  we  arrive  at  the  model  of  the  Henri  Grace  a  Dieu, 
of  1200  tons,  built  at  Erith  about  the  year  1518. 

We  would  gladly,  however,  have  seen  the  connecting  links 
in  the  chain ;  as  the  model  of  the  vessels  in  which  the  en¬ 
terprising  Scandinavian  Sea-kings  performed  their  almost 
incredible  voyages  out  of  sight  of  land,  without  the  aid  of 
compass  or  of  chart,  and  with  only  the  sun  and  stars,  and 
flight  of  birds,  to  guide  them  ;  and  of  the  Mediterranean  gal¬ 
ley  pulling  from  forty  to  sixty  oars  on  each  side,  which  our 
great  King  Alfred  introduced  to  resist  the  ravages  of  the 
Danish  marauders.  We  have  no  record  either  of  the  form 
or  probable  size  of  ships  at  the  period  of  the  Norman  Con¬ 
quest,  unless  it  be  the  picturesque  representations  of  Frois¬ 
sart,  or  the  more  grotesque  specimens  of  the  Bayeux  tapestry. 
Nor  of  the  introduction  of  sailing  vessels,  although  the  an¬ 
cient  chronicles  tell  us  that  when  Prince  William,  son  to 
Henry  I.,  was  drowned  in  crossing  from  France  to  England, 
three  hundred  persons  perished  with  him,  implying  con¬ 
siderable  burthen  in  the  vessel.  We  learn,  too,  that  a  little 
later  the  commercial  intercourse  between  France  and  Eng¬ 
land,  in  wines,  wool,  and  woollen  cloths,  was  extensive,  which 
could  not  have  been  carried  on  profitably  except  in  sailing 
vessels.  The  expedition  of  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion,  in  1190, 
to  join  the  crusade  to  the  Holy  Land,  consisted  of  nine  “tall 
shippes,”  besides  one  hundred  and  fifty  others  of  smaller 
size,  and  galleys.  But  it  was  in  the  beginning  of  the  four¬ 
teenth  century  that  the  invention  of  the  mariner’s  compass, 
by  Gioja  of  Amalfi,  gave  the  great  impulse  to  ship-building, 
by  enabling  vessels  to  make  long  voyages  in  comparative 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  407 

safety.  A  century  later  the  burthen  of  the  largest  ships 
appears  not  to  have  exceeded  six  hundred  tons, — yet,  at  this 
time,  the  mercantile  shipping  of  England  must  have  been 
considerable,  for,  about  the  middle  of  the  century  flourished 
the  celebrated  merchant,  William  Conynge,  of  Bristol, — the 
builder  of  the  beautiful  church  of  St.  Mary  Redcliff,  in  that 
city, — who,  among  other  vessels,  owned  the  Mary  and  John , 
a  ship  of  900  tons. 

The  next  step  in  advance  was  the  building  the  Great 
Harry ,  about  the  year  1488,  in  the  time  of  Henry  VII., 
which  well  deserved  the  record  of  a  model  as  the  parent  of 
the  British  navy.  It  was  high  time  that  this  island,  if  she 
wished  to  take  any  place  among  maritime  nations,  should  be 
up  and  doing,  for  other  countries  were  fast  increasing  the 
size  of  their  ships,  and  pursuing  the  path  of  discovery,  which 
was  the  first  step  towards  that  intercourse  which  has  resulted 
in  bringing  to  our  shores — and  to  the  Great  Exhibition — 
the  silver  and  gold,  the  cotton,  the  coffee  and  sugar  of  the 
West,  with  the  pearls,  the  ivory,  and  silk  of  the  East.  For 
it  was  only  a  few  years  later  that  Spain,  in  1492,  fitted 
out  the  ever  memorable  fleet — small  as  it  was  and  of  crazy 
ships — that  enabled  Columbus  to  prove  to  incredulous 
Europe  the  existence  of  a  new  world,  and  that  Portugal 
equipped  the  expedition  in  which  Vasco  de  Gama,  in  1497, 
rounded  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  laid  open  the  route 
to  the  East;  to  be  followed  within  half  a  century  by  the 
zealous  Padre  Francisco  Xavier,  the  “  Great  Apostle  of 
the  Indies,”  who,  in  return  for  the  myrrh,  and  the 
spices,  and  the  frankincense  of  the  East,  first  imparted  to 
the  natives  of  India  the  more  precious  gift  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ. 

The  Henri  Grace  d  Dieu ,  before  mentioned,  comes  next 
on  the  list.  This  model,  now  lying  on  the  table  before  us, 
and  for  which  we  are  indebted  to  the  liberality  of  the  Ad¬ 
miralty,  shows  two  tiers  of  port-holes ;  but  the  lower  bat¬ 
tery  so  little  raised  out  of  the  water,  that  it  is  doubtful  if 
she  could  have  sailed  with  safety  on  a  wind  ;  and  we  know 
by  the  loss  of  the  Marie  Rose  at  Portsmouth,  a  little  later 
in  this  reign,  that,  owing  to  her  ports  being  within  sixteen 
inches  of  the  water,  in  going  about  she  upset  and  sunk, 


408 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE  : 


when  six  hundred  persons  perished.  At  so  comparatively 
low  a  state  was  nautical  skill  in  this  country,  that  fifty 
Venetian  soldiers  were  hired  to  try  and  raise  this  wreck; 
their  attempts,  however,  all  failed,  as  the  wreck  of  the 
Marie  Rose  remains,  to  this  day,  at  Spithead ;  and  so  lately 
as  August  1836,  several  of  her  brass  cannon,  of  exquisite 
workmanship,  were  recovered  from  the  bottom  of  the  sea 
by  the  skill  of  the  late  William  Deane  (well  known  by  his 
successful  submarine  operations  by  means  of  the  diving- 
helmet),  and  are  now  lying  in  the  Repository  grounds  at 
Woolwich. 

The  spirit  of  enterprise  that  prevailed  during  the  reign 
of  Elizabeth  could  not  fail  to  have  some  influence  on  our 
ships,  and  the  indefatigable  and  politic  Raleigh  directed  his 
attention  to  the  improvement  of  our  navy.  Sir  Robert 
Dudley,  afterwards  Duke  of  Northumberland,  a  man  of 
enlarged  views  and  comprehensive  mind,  paid  also  much 
attention  to  naval  affairs.  He  purposed  to  lower  the  fore¬ 
castles  and  sterns  of  ships,  and  to  abridge  their  then  cum¬ 
brous  ornaments ;  to  raise  their  lower  batteries,  and  to 
increase  their  length,  so  as  to  render  it  equal  to  four  times 
their  breadth.  Rut  as  his  views  did  not  meet  with  the 
encouragement  which  he  expected  from  the  government, 
he  constructed  a  ship  at  his  own  expense,  and  made  a  voy¬ 
age  to  India  in  1594.  It  may  be  remarked,  that  Sir  Robert 
gave  the  plan  of  a  vessel  which  he  called  a  freyata ,  which 
may  have  led  to  the  construction  of  the  frigates  now  so 
generally  known. 

Singular  as  it  may  appear  to  us  at  the  present  day, 
sliips-of-war  at  this  time  did  not  stow  any  provisions;  they 
were  carried  by  an  attendant  vessel  called  the  “  victualler/' 
of  which  one  was  attached  to  each  large  ship.  The  space 
in  the  hold,  not  taken  up  by  the  enormous  load  of  shingle 
ballast  required  to  counterpoise  the  heavy  top  hamper,  was 
used  as  a  cook-room ;  and  so  lately  as  the  year  1715  several 
ships-of-war  had  cook-rooms  in  their  holds. 

Passing  over  another  half  century,  we  come  to  the  model 
of  the  Sovereign  of  the  Seas,  or,  as  called  later,  the  Royal 
Sovereign ,  of  100  guns,  and  1861  tons  burthen,  built  at 
Woolwich  in  1637  by  Mr.  Phineas  Pett.  This  vessel 
marks  an  epoch  in  the  art  of  ship-building  as  being  the  first 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  409 

constructed  iu  England  on  scientific  principles,  Mr.  Pett 
being  a  good  mathematician,  a  graduate  of  the  University 
of  Cambridge. 

Another  step  in  improvement  was  effected  bj  Sir  An¬ 
tony  Deane,  in  1665,  who  built  the  War  spite  and  Defiance , 
to  carry  six  months’  provisions,  and  their  lower-deck  guns 
to  be  4J  feet  out  of  water.  He  also  has  the  credit  of  hav¬ 
ing  been  the  first  who  calculated  a  ship’s  draft  before  she 
was  launched.  The  dimensions  of  the  Spanish  ship  Princesa, 
of  70  guns,  which  fell  into  our  hands  in  the  year  1740, 
caused  a  revision  of  our  establishment  in  1745,  and  the 
Royal  George ,  of  increased  dimensions,  was  launched  in 
1756 ;  this  ship,  which  upset  at  Spithead  in  1782,  was  one 
of  the  first  that  had  her  bottom  sheathed  with  copper.  In 
the  same  manner,  eleven  years  after  she  came  into  our 
possession,  we  built,  after  the  Invincible,  a  French  74lgun 
ship,  and  thus  got  some  fine  ships,  but  the  practice  was 
not  persevered  in.  The  Commerce  cle  Marseille  formed 
the  ground-work  for  the  Caledonia  of  120  guns,  launched 
at  Plymouth  in  1808  ;  but  the  Canopus,  of  84  guns,  taken 
in  1798,  and  acknowledged  on  all  hands  to  be  an  admirable 
specimen  of  naval  architecture,  was  not  adopted  to  be  the 
model  for  84-gun  ships  of  the  British  navy  before  the  year 
1821 ;  and  even  then,  by  the  mode  of  practical  carpentry 
of  the  hull  pursued  in  our  dockyards,  and  the  weight  of 
stores  and  provisions  considered  necessary  for  efficiency, 
the  whole  weight  of  the  ship  was  increased  to  such  an  ex¬ 
tent,  that  the  displacement  caused  by  it  brought  the  lower- 
deck  midship  port  of  the  British  84  full  18  inches  nearer 
the  water  than  that  of  her  French  prototype !  It  is  need¬ 
less  to  follow  the  history  further;  suffice  it  to  say,  that  all 
who  served  in  the  blockading  fleets  during  the  last  war  were 
painfully  alive  to  the  fact  of  the  comparative  inferiority  of 
our  ships  to  those  of  France  and  Spain  in  speed,  stability, 
and  readiness  in  manoeuvring.  It  is  true  that  the  skill 
of  our  commandei’S,  and  the  courage  of  our  seamen,  even¬ 
tually  succeeded  in  triumphantly  asserting  our  naval  supe¬ 
riority,  but  much  loss  of  life  might  have  been  spared  had 
our  ships,  in  form,  been  more  on  a  par  with  those  of  our  op¬ 
ponents. 

Let  me  not  be  misunderstood.  I  am  far  from  wishing 

35 


410 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE  : 


to  speak  slightingly  of  those  who  have  clone  good  service 
to  their  country,  or  to  deny  the  great  merit  of  many  of  our 
practical  builders;  but  there  must  be  some  reason  for  the 
admitted  inferiority  above  alluded  to ;  and  I  can  only 
attribute  it  to  the  cause  that  in  France  and  Spain,  and 
other  Continental  countries,  the  aid  of  science  has  been 
called  in,  and  some  of  the  greatest  mathematicians  of  the 
age  have  turned  their  attention  to  the  improvements  of  the 
shipping  of  their  country.  Colbert,  the  enlightened  min¬ 
ister  of  Louis  Quatorze,  employed  Renau,  who  was,  we 
believe,  the  first  French  author  that  wrote  on  the  theory  of 
ships.  He  was  followed  by  the  two  Bernouillis,  by  Pere 
la  Hoste,  by  Bouger,  Euler,  by  the  Spaniard  Don  Jorge 
Juan,  by  Homme,  de  Borda,  l’abbe  Bossut,  the  Swedish 
Chapman,  Chauchot,  Clairbois,  Dupin,  and  others,  whose 
writings  and  discussions  must  have  had  a  powerful  effect 
towards  bringing  about  the  improvements  introduced  into 
the  navies  of  France  and  Spain. 

What  has  been  done  in  England  to  set  against  such 
names  ?  The  only  English  treatise  on  ship-building  at  that 
time  that  can  lay  any  claim  to  a  scientific  character  was 
published  by  Mungo  Murray  in  1754;  and  such  was  the 
encouragement  he  received,  that  he  lived  and  died  a  work¬ 
ing  shipwright  in  Deptford  Dockyard.  England  has  not, 
to  this  day,  one  original  truly  scientific  treatise  on  the  sub¬ 
ject  in  her  language.  Certainly  we  have  some  papers  and 
tracts  of  modern  times,  as  those  by  Atwood,  on  the  stability 
of  ships,  in  the  Phil.  Trans,  for  1796-8;  the  translations 
of  Chapman’s  great  work,  by  Dr.  Inman,  to  which  he  has 
added  some  valuable  notes;  the  experiments  made  by  Col. 
Beaufoy  in  1791,  on  the  resistance  of  fluids,  chiefly  at  his 
own  expense,  and  since  his  death  published  by  his  son,  Mr. 
Henry  Beaufoy, in  a  4to.  vol.,  and  gratuitously  distributed; 
an  act  of  munificence  in  the  cause  of  science  worthy  of  the 
disinterested  labours  of  his  father.  But  the  most  valuable 
contributions  to  this  science  are  the  papers*  written  by  the 
gentlemen  of  the  School  of  Naval  Architecture,  established 
in  1811 ;  yet,  after  a  few  years  suppressed,  while  almost  all 

*  Published  in  the  “Papers  on  Naval  Architecture,”  1826  to 
1 832.  Edited  by  Messrs.  Morgan  and  Creuze. 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  411 

those  brought  up  in  it  were,  for  a  considerable  length  of 
time,  kept  in  subordinate  situations — men  familiar  with  the 
differential  calculus  kept  chipping  timber  in  our  dockyards 
—and  even  now,  more  than  forty  years  from  its  first  estab¬ 
lishment,  only  five  out  of  the  forty-two  men  there  educated 
have  risen  to  any  stations  of  responsibility  !  Honour,  how¬ 
ever,  to  whom  honour  is  due;  the  good  seed  they  have 
sown,  we  trust,  has  not  been  lost ;  the  correct  principles  of 
naval  architecture  laid  down  by  them  have  become  known 
and  generally  diffused,  and  though  the  Sieves  of  the  school 
may  not  reap  the  reward,  the  merit  is  undoubtedly  theirs; 
posterity  will  do  them  the  justice  which  the  present  age 
has  hitherto  denied  them. 

More  recent  contributions  to  the  science  are  an  ad¬ 
mirable  treatise  by  Creuze,  in  the  Encyclopedia  Britan- 
nica ;  Scott  Russell’s  Experiments  on  the  Wave-line  as 
applied  to  Shipping;  Professor  Moseley’s  papers  in  the 
Phil.  Trans,  on  Dynamical  Stability,  &c. ;  Peake’s  “Rudi¬ 
mentary  Treatise  on  Ship-building;”  and  Fincham’s 
“  Outlines  of  Ship-building,”  and  “  History  of  Naval 
Architecture.” 

These  few  later  works  are  recent,  and  are,  we  trust,  a 
type  o£.better  things  to  come.  The  fact  is  undeniable, 
that  in  England  science  was  (I  trust  I  may  not  say  it  is) 
at  a  discount.  It  has  already  been  proclaimed  within 
these  walls,  on  far  higher  authority  than  mine,  that  ab¬ 
stract  science  must  be  cultivated  if  we  are  not  to  fall  in 
arrear  of  other  nations.  However  the  term  may  be  slighted 
by  some,  who  from  time  to  time  have  managed  the  affairs 
of  this  nation,  the  study  of  abstract  science,  and  the  sys¬ 
tematic  pursuit  of  the  study,  cannot  be  dispensed  with,  if 
we  wish  to  make  true  progress  in  a  question  which  involves 
the  considerations  of  such  abstruse  subjects  as  dynamical 
stability  and  the  oscillations  of  floating  bodies. 

We  are  invited,  in  the  letter  to  the  Society  of  Arts,  con- 
veying  His  Royal  Highness’s  suggestions  for  these  Lectures, 
“  to  state  freely  and  without  reserve  our  opinion  upon  the 
probable  immediate  effect  of  the  Exhibition  on  the  particular 
subject  of  each  lecture.”  What  may  be  its  effect  with 
respect  to  naval  architecture  and  naval  affairs  in  general,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  predict;  but  one  thing  is  certain,  that 


412 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE: 


the  Exhibition  has  brought  into  striking  relief  the  want  of 
union  between  science  and  practice,  the  want  of  more  inti¬ 
mate  communication  between  scientific  and  practical  men, 
and  has  shown  the  mischief  likely  to  arise  if  the  wall  of 
separation  be  not  broken  down.  Not  only  is  this  true  in 
naval  architecture,  as  shown  in  a  former  part  of  this  Lec¬ 
ture,  but  it  is  equally  true  as  respects  the  want  of  elementary 
instruction  of  our  naval  officers.  As  steam  advances,  we 
must  give  a  mathematical  instruction  to  those  who  are  to 
command  steamships,  or  we  shall  be  left  far  astern  in  the 
race.  What  is  the  education  now  afforded  to  youngsters 
entering  the  navy  ?  A  name  without  the  substance.  They 
may  by  chance  pick  up  some  navigation  when  the  other 
duties  of  a  ship  will  admit  of  it ;  but  as  to  any  systematic 
instruction,  it  is  out  of  the  question  ;  the  very  nature  of  the 
duties  on  board  an  active  ship  forbids  it,  however  desirous 
the  captain  may  be  to  forward  it ;  the  result  is,  that  when  a 
few  years  later  the  boys  come,  as  men,  to  study  steam,  it  is 
no  uncommon  thing  to  find  that  they  have  to  begin  with 
decimals  and  the  elements  of  algebra.  How  are  we  to  main¬ 
tain  our  ground  with  neighbouring  nations  where  a  cadet 
is  kept  for  the  first  two  or  three  years  after  entering  the 
navy  strictly  at  his  studies  ?  I  do  not  advocate-  the  re¬ 
establishment  of  the  Naval  College  on  shore,  but  I  would 
earnestly  recommend  some  plan  or  other,  by  means  of  which 
boys  can  be  educated ;  why  not  a  naval  school  on  board  a 
linc-of-battle  ship  moored  at  Spithead,  where  systematic 
instruction  in  mathematics — the  groundwork  of  a  knowledge 
of  steam — and  practice  in  the  earlier  part  of  seamanship, 
might  be  combined  ?  Unless  something  of  this  sort  be  done, 
I  fear,  as  steam  advances,  this  country  will  be  left  more  and 
more  in  the  background. 

Having  mentioned  the  name  of  Dr.  Inman,  may  it  be 
permitted  to  a  former  pupil,  in  the  name  of  his  brother  sai¬ 
lors,  educated  at  the  Naval  College,  and  of  the  students  in 
naval  architecture,  to  offer  a  passing  tribute  of  respect  and 
gratitude  to  their  former  master  and  friend  ?  Whatever 
little  knowledge  we  may  have,  we  all  feel  that  it  is  chiefly 
to  the  precepts  and  example  of  that  able  mathematician 
that  we  are  indebted  for  it.  The  valuable  notes  appended 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  413 

to  his  translation  of  Chapman’s  Architecture,  Navalis  Mer- 
ccitoria  prove  Dr.  Inman  to  be  the  highest  authority  on  the 
theory  of  naval  architecture. 

One  great  inconvenience,  arising  from  the  absence  in  this 
country  of  the  systematic  pursuit  of  the  study  I  have  al¬ 
luded  to  is,  that  there  is  very  little  recorded  knowledge  as 
to  the  various  attempts  at  improvement  which  have  been 
made.  This  may,  perhaps,  be  illustrated  by  a  short  exam¬ 
ple,  abridged  from  Mr.  Creuze’s  treatise  before  alluded  to. 
Could  it  have  been  possible,  that  there  should  have  been 
an  official  receptacle  for  this  traditional  or  registered  know¬ 
ledge  as  early  as  the  sixteenth  century,  the  improvements 
in  shipping,  resulting  from  the  system  of  diagonal  trussing, 
introduced  by  Sir  Robert  Seppings  in  1810,  would  certainly 
not  have  been  so  long  delayed;  for  its  advantages  were  evi¬ 
dently  suspected  at  that  early  period.  But  we  will  only 
take  a  more  familiar  and  trifling  instance.  The  Romans 
sheathed  their  vessels  with  lead,  secured  on  the  bottom  with 
copper  nails,  as  we  know  from  a  vessel  of  Trajan’s  weighed 
out  of  the  lake  of  Riccia.  In  modern  naval  history,  the 
Spaniards,  according  to  Navarette,  first  attempted  this  in 
1514.  The  earliest  ships  sheathed  with  metal  in  England 
were  those  fitted  out  in  1553  to  discover  a  north-east  pas¬ 
sage  to  China,  or  Cathay,  under  Sir  Hugh  Willoughby. 
Lead-sheathing  was  again  tried  in  1671  on  the  Phoenix , 
and  between  that  year  and  1692,  twenty  ships  were  so 
sheathed.  It  was  then  discontinued;  but  in  1768,  the 
Marlborough' s  bottom  was  covered  with  lead,  which  was  re¬ 
moved  after  a  two  years’  trial.  There  is  then  a  long  inter¬ 
val  until  1833,  when  lead  sheathing  was  tried  on  the  bottom 
of  the  Success  in  Portsmouth  harbour,  and  in  two  years 
dropped  off.  Now,  had  these  various  experiments  been  on 
record,  with  the  reasons  of  their  failure,  those  causes  of 
failure  would  not,  in  all  probability,  have  been  repeated  in 
each  successive  experiment;  and,  certainly,  the  lead  on  the 
bottom  of  the  Success  would  not  have  been  secured  with 
iron  nails.  It  is  not  improbable,  also,  that  centuries  ago 
some  method  would  have  been  ascertained  of  advantageously 
applying  that  less  costly  metal,  lead,  to  the  bottom  of  hulks, 
and  all  stationary  vessels,  and  thus  many  hundred  tons  of 


414 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE  : 


copper  might  have  been  saved  to  the  nation,  by  a  lesson  first 
taught  by  the  copper  nails  in  the  sheathing  of  a  Roman 
galley. 

To  return  to  the  Models  of  the  Exhibition. 

The  general  peace,  amongst  other  blessings,  happily 
brought  a  change  in  the  system  of  ship-building.  The 
weakness  of  ships  in  straining  and  working  had  long  been 
a  subject  of  complaint,  and  great  credit  is  due  to  the  late 
Sir  Robert  Seppings  for  carrying  into  practice  improvements 
suggested  by  himself  and  others  as  early  as  1806  and  1810. 
The  chief  of  them  were  the  filling  in  solid  between  the 
timbers  up  to  the  light-water  line ;  the  system  of  diagonal 
trussing  for  the  frame ;  the  connecting  the  beams  with  the 
sides,  by  shelf-pieces  and  thick  water-ways  (first  suggested 
by  General  Bcntham,  to  whom  the  service  is  indebted  for 
many  useful  improvements,  both  in  our  ships  and  in  our 
dockyards);  and,  though  last  not  least,  the  circular  stern, 
of  equal  strength  with  every  other  part  of  the  ship,  leaving 
no  point  indefensible. 

It  may  be  hoped,  that  we  shall  not  lose  sight  of  the  ob¬ 
ject  of  the  circular  stern,  and  permit  utility  to  be  sacrificed 
to  symmetry  or  to  luxury ;  let  us  beware  of  our  raking 
sterns  and  stern  galleries,  beauty  of  form  is  not  an  absolute 
essential  to  a  ship-of-war,  the  power  of  depressing  the  stern 
guns,  and  of  throwing  the  fire  well  clear  of  the  ship,  is  an 
object  of  far  more  importance. 

in  1832,  Sir  William  Symonds  succeeded  to  the  office  of 
surveyor  of  the  Navy;  and  numerous  models  in  the  Exhi¬ 
bition,  many  of  which  are  now  on  the  table,  show  the  dif¬ 
ference  of  form  of  his  ships  to  those  of  the  old  construction ; 
among  others  may  be  mentioned  the  Queen ,  of  116  guns; 
Vanguard,  80;  Vernon,  50;  Arefhusa,  50;  Pique,  40; 
Spartan,  26;  and  Flying  Fish,  12.  Sir  W.  Symonds  is 
the  first  constructor  of  the  British  navy  who  has  been  left 
unrestricted  as  to  dimensions,  and  he  has  consequently  been 
able  to  introduce  into  the  service  ships  which  undoubtedly 
bear  a  high  character  in  some  decided  points  of  efficiency  as 
men-of-war.  He  has  also  practically  demonstrated  the  pos¬ 
sibility  of  sliips-of-war  obtaining  sufficient  stability  without 
the  aid  of  ballast,  which  is  an  important  advantage,  and  one 
which  will  be  yet  productive  of  essential  benefit.  These 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  415 

advantages,  however,  are,  in  some  instances,  gained  at  the 
expense  of  uneasiness  of  motion,  which  is  produced  by  the 
form  given  to  the  sides  of  the  ships  immediately  above  and 
below  their  seats  in  the  water,  arising  from  the  stability 
of  his  ships  being  dependent  chiefly  on  breadth  of  beam  at 
the  load-water  section.  But  that  Sir  W.  Symonds  broke 
through  an  almost  adamantine  barrier  of  prejudice,  and 
thereby  conferred  an  important  benefit  on  the  navy,  is  now, 
we  believe,  universally  acknowledged. 

There  were  several  other  beautiful  models  of  the  experi¬ 
mental  50-gun  frigates,  to  which  my  limited  space  will  only 
allow  me  to  refei',  as  the  Indefatigable ,  by  Mr.  Wm.  Eyde; 
the  Leander,  by  Mr.  Blake;  the  Raleigh,  by  Mr.  Fincham; 
the  Nankin,  by  Mr.  Oliver  Lang,  jun.;  the  San  Fiorenzo, 
by  Messrs.  Reid,  Ohatfield,  and  Creuze;  and  the  Fury  dice, 
26,  by  Admiral  Elliot,  &c.  Among  others,  the  sectional 
models  of  Mr.  Joseph  White,  of  East  Cowes,  deserve  hon¬ 
ourable  mention,  as  the  Phaeton,  50 ;  Daring,  12 ;  Water- 
ivitcli,  10 ;  and  the  Fox,  with  her  old  and  new  bows,  show¬ 
ing  the  peculiarity  of  this  builder’s  long  bow,  which  has 
proved  itself  superior  to  those  constructed  on  the  old  plan. 
There  were  also  six  models  from  a  line-of-battle  ship  to  a 
cutter,  intended  to  illustrate  a  principle  advocated  by  Mr. 
White,  that  all  vessels  for  the  same  service  may  be  built 
from  one  design. 

There  were  also  models  of  sailing  merchant-vessels,  by 
Messrs.  Wigram  and  Green,  of  Blackwall;  and  Smith,  of 
Newcastle  (whose  ships  in  practical  construction  are  equal 
to  those  built  in  the  Government  dockyards) ;  W  hite,  of 
Cowes;  Hall,  of  Aberdeen;  Laing,  of  Sunderland,  &c  ; 
proving  that,  at  length,  our  merchant  builders  have  been 
compelled  to  enter  on  the  career  of  competition,  forced  on 
them  by  the  fast  American  liners,  and  which  for  so  long  a 
period  our  mischievous  tonnage  laws  debarred  them  from. 
While  official  dimensions  issued  by  authority  by  men  un¬ 
suited  by  education,  or  rather  absence  of  education,  to  form 
any  opinion  on  the  subject,  cramped  the  energies  of  our 
naval  architects,  the  still-more-to-be-condemned  tonnage 
laws  operated  as  an  effectual  bar  to  improvement,  in  the 
forms  of  our  mercantile  shipping. 

These  laws  were  the  immediate  cause  of  the  defects  of 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE  : 


416 

English  merchant  ships,  and  were  a  glaring  outrage  on  all 
true  principles  in  the  practice  of  navigation;  they  amounted 
in  effect,  to  quote  the  words  of  Mr.  Scott  Russell,  to  an  Act 
of  Parliament  for  the  compulsory  construction  of  bad  ships. 
The  merchant  princes  of  London  and  Liverpool,  with  their 
boundless  wealth,  proverbial  generosity,  and  persevering 
enterprise,  might  surely  have  attracted  the  attention  of  men 
of  science  to  the  improvement  of  their  ships,  but  to  what 
avail,  while  fettered  by  that  absurd  statute,  which  has  sad¬ 
dled  this  country  with  some  two  million  tons  of  inferior 
shipping?  Need  we  wonder  at  the  amount  of  shipwrecks? 
The  startling  fact,  that  about  two  ships  a-day  throughout 
the  year  is  the  average  number  of  wrecks  registered  at 
Lloyd’s  is  a  sad  corroboration  of  the  acknowledged  truth 
that  the  mercantile  navy  of  England  has  hitherto  been  the 
least  speedy  and  the  most  uusafo  that  belongs  to  any  civil¬ 
ized  nation. 

The  old  laws  are  now  repealed;  the  effect  of  them,  how¬ 
ever,  must  for  some  time  remain.  But  is  the  new  law 
much  better  ?  A  system  of  internal  measurement  as  a  rule 
for  tonnage  is  strongly  advocated  by  some  of  the  most  able 
of  those  who  have  inquired  into  the  question,  including 
Mr.  Gr.  Moorson;  and,  doubtless,  there  is  much  to  be  said 
in  favour  of  it;  yet  the  difference  in  the  specific  gravity  of 
a  cargo  will  show  the  difficulty  of  adopting  that  system : 
for  instance,  a  West  India  ship  of  470  registered  tons  car¬ 
ried  695  tons  of  sugar  or  coal,  or  970  tons  of  mahogany 
timber,  whereas,  had  she  been  laden  with  wool,  she  would 
have  stowed  only  380  tons  of  cargo  !  On  the  other  hand 
the  late  Tonnage  Commission  of  Revision,  including  Mr. 
Parsons,  advocated  external  measurement;  but  this  also 
has  its  difficulties,  inasmuch  as  it  is  stated  that  an  iron  ves¬ 
sel  might  have  an  advantage  over  a  fir-built  vessel  of  the 
same  external  form  and  dimensions  of  28  per  cent.  Lieut. 
Sharpe,  R.  N.,  and  others,  are  in  favour  of  the  difference 
of  displacement  as  a  measure  of  tonnage,  or  the  cubic 
contents  of  the  space  between  the  light  and  low-water  lines 
measured  externally  for  all  vessels.  Where  so  many  able 
men  have  treated  on  a  subject,  it  is  not  for  me  to  offer  an 
opinion  upon  the  right  rule.  But  thus  much  is  certain, 
that  the  present  system  works  ill;  that  there  are  ample 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  417 

materials  before  tbe  public  for  settling  the  question;  aud 
that  it  ought  to  be  settled,  so  as  to  leave  the  builder  free  to 
adopt  the  best  form  of  vessel,  without  any  further  delay. 

Notwithstanding  the  impediments  alluded  to,  we  trust 
that  many  of  the  improved  models  of  merchant-vessels  and 
yachts  shown  in  the  Exhibition  may  be  hailed  as  the  dawn 
of  a  better  state  of  things, — of  a  fresh  starting  point  in  the 
art  of  ship-building, — and  that  the  American  clippers,  the 
American  liners,  and  the  yacht  America, — which,  owing 
to  the  absence  of  prejudice  and  the  aid  of  science  in  con¬ 
struction  and  seamanship,  have  hitherto  fairly  distanced 
us, — may  not  be  allowed  to  have  the  whole  course  to  them¬ 
selves.  Let  us  acknowledge  our  defeats  when  they  are  real, 
and  trust  to  British  character  and  energy  to  make  them 
victories  on  another  occasion. 

The  mention  of  the  America,  naturally  leads  us  to  the 
beautiful  models  of  yachts  belonging  to  the  Thames  Yacht 
Club :  one  of  them,  the  Nancy  Dawson ,  has  circumnavi¬ 
gated  the  globe,  and,  as  we  all  know,  her  late  owner,  Mr. 
Shedden,  11.  N.,  gallantly  lent  his  aid  in  the  search,  by 
Behring’s  Straits,  for  Sir  John  Franklin  and  our  missing 
countrymen.  Six  of  the  yachts  are  by  Harvey,  of  Ipswich, 
and  all  the  vessels,  I  believe,  are  winners  of  prizes.  I 
gladly  embrace  this  opportunity  of  saying  how  much  naval 
architecture  and  the  naval  service  generally  are  indebted  to 
the  spirited  conduct  of  our  yacht  sailors,  and  especially  of 
the  Royal  Yacht  squadron.  Their  92  vessels,  of  9400  tons, 
and  manned  by  1200  picked  seamen,  do  honour  to  the 
country.  Nor  need  their  owners  be  discouraged  because  a 
faster  vessel  has  been  found.  Let  them  remember  that  the 
race  was  anything  but  a  match ;  the  drawing  now  lying  on 
the  table  of  the  lines  of  the  America,  in  accordance,  I 
believe,  with  the  wave-line  principle,  shows  that  the  dis¬ 
placement  of  that  vessel  to  the  load-line,  or  the  amount  that 
had  to  be  “driven  through  the  water,  was  not  more  than  two- 
thirds  of  that  of  her  opponents  in  general ;  while  the  dis¬ 
tance  between  her  timbers  was  30  inches,  and  that  of  her 
competitors  was  barely  10  inches.  One  was  a  mere  shell 
built  solely  for  racing,  the  other  constructed  for  the  accom¬ 
modation  of  a  party  on  a  yacht  voyage  up  the  Mediterranean ; 


418 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE: 


in  short,  a  race-horse  matched  against  a  well-fed  carriage- 
horse. 


Steam  Vessels. 

Probably  no  part  of  Class  VIII.  of  the  Exhibition  will 
be  regarded  with  more  interest  than  that  which  illustrates 
the  early,  progressive,  and  present  application  of  the  steam- 
engine  to  navigation.  The  honour  of  having  first  imagined 
a  vessel  to  be  propelled  by  steam  would  seem  to  belong  to 
Blasco  de  Garay,  a  Spaniard;  and  his  plan  was  tried  as 
early  as  the  year  1548,  by  order  of  the  Emperor  Charles  V., 
at  Barcelona,  on  a  vessel  of  200  tons,  which  was  propelled 
at  the  rate  of  three  miles  an  hour.  This  experiment  would 
appear  to  have  fallen  into  oblivion.  In  1736,  Jonathan 
Hulls,  in  England,  patented  a  plan  for  propelling  with  pad¬ 
dle-wheels;  in  1789,  Symington  propelled  a  vessel  on  the 
Forth  and  Clyde  Canal  at  the  rate  of  nearly  seven  miles  an 
hour ;  and  again,  in  1802,  satisfactorily  worked  a  steam-tug 
on  the  same  canal ;  but  it  is  to  the  undaunted  perseverance 
of  Robert  Fulton,  an  American,  that  the  honour  is  due  of 
having  carried  the  measure  into  practical  execution  ;  and  in 
August  1807,  he  made  his  first  passage  from  New  York  to 
Albany  in  the  Clermont,  of  20-horse  power,  at  an  average 
speed  of  five  miles  an  hour.  In  April  1812,  Henry  Bell,  of 
Helensburgh,  established  a  steam-vessel  in  the  Clyde,  and 
steamed  between  that  place  and  Glasgow,  also  at  the  rate  of 
five  miles  an  hour. 

In  1818,  a  steam-ship  crossed  the  Atlantic  from  Savannah 
to  Liverpool;  in  1838,  just  twenty  years  later,  the  Sirius 
and  Great  Western  made  their  first  voyage  to  New  York; 
and  now,  as  it  is  well  known,  steam -ships  of  2000  tons  bur¬ 
den  and  500  horse-power  are  navigating  the  Pacific  and 
Indian  Oceans;  and  they  weekly  cross  the  Atlantic  at  the 
average  rate  of  ten  miles  an  hour,  whatever  be,  the  wind 
or  weather;  while  American  river  steamers  navigate  the 
Hudson  at  the  rate  of  twenty,  if  not  twenty-two  miles  an 
hour. 

As  a  paddle-wheel  war-steamer  I  would  direct  attention 
to  the  model  of  the  Terrible ,  of  1850  tons,  and  800  horse¬ 
power,  designed  by  Mr.  Oliver  Lang,  of  Woolwich  Dockyard, 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  419 

which  has  proved  herself  one  of  the  most  efficient  in  the 
navy.  He,  too,  was  the  builder  of  the  Comet ,  of  238  tons, 
and  80  horse-power,  in  the  year  1822,  the  first  steamer  built 
in  a  Government  dockyard. 

The  most  successful  effort  at  producing  fast  sea-going 
paddle-wheel  steamers  has  resulted  from  the  free  competition 
permitted  for  the  four  mail  steamers  between  Holyhead  and 
Kingston,  a  distance  of  56  nautic  or  64J  statute  miles,  which 
was  accomplished  by  the  Banshee,  built  by  Mr.  Oliver 
Lang,  Jun.,  engines  by  Penn,  in  3h  26m,  or  at  the  rate  of 
16-32  knots,  or  18-8  statute  miles  an  hour;  the  average 
time  of  passage  being  4h  3m,  equal  to  13-84  knots,  or  16 
miles  an  hour  for  summer  and  winter.  All  the  four  vessels 
have  earned  a  very  high  character.  A  striking  example  of 
the  value  of  free  competition,  and  of  the  builder  and  engi¬ 
neer  working  in  concert,  and  both  doing  their  utmost  to 
maintain  their  high  character. 

Screw  Steamers. 

Taking,  however,  the  best  of  our  paddle-wheel  war 
steamers,  and  admitting  all  the  improvements  that  have 
from  time  to  time  been  introduced,  the  fact  of  the  small 
amount  of  armament  that  they  carry  relatively  to  the 
burthen  of  the  vessel  and  the  power  of  the  machinery, 
forcibly  claims  attention.  Latterly  the  Odin,  Sidon,  Ter¬ 
rible,  and  Retribution,  have  been  constructed  to  carry  broad¬ 
side  guns,  but  their  wheels  and  part  of  their  machinery 
must  necessarily  remain  exposed  to  shot;  this  is  an  in¬ 
herent  defect  in  principle  in  paddle-wheel  steamers,  which 
no  skill  of  the  builder  can  overcome.  We  are  driven, 
therefore,  to  seek  some  other  mode  of  propulsion.  This, 
happily,  has  been  found  in  the  screw;  and,  perhaps,  in 
the  whole  range  of  experiments  connected  with  the  appli¬ 
cation  of  steam  to  ships,  there  is  no  point  of  greater  interest 
than  the  gradual  progress  and  ultimate  triumph  of  the 
screw-propeller. 

The  immense  advantage  of  a  submerged  propeller  over 
the  paddle-wheel,  as  an  auxiliary  to  sailing-vessels,  in  point 
of  economy,  in  protection  from  shot,  and  as  leaving  the  broad¬ 
side  of  a  ship-of-war  free  for  guns,  renders  any  sacrifice  of 


420 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE  : 


time  and  expense  to  accomplish  the  object  in  the  best  man¬ 
ner  well  worthy  of  the  nation. 

Passing  over  the  early  history  of  this  application  of  the 
screw,  we  come  to  the  patent  taken  out  by  Mr.  Francis 
Smith  in  May  1886,  and  that  by  Captain  Erricssen  in 
July  following.  The  former  made  his  first  trial  in  the 
Archimedes,  on  the  20th  September,  1837,  which  at  once 
established  the  practicability  of  this  propeller.  In  1845,  a 
trial  of  the  relative  merits  of  the  paddle-wheel  and  screw 
took  place  between  similar  vessels,  the  Rattler  and  Alecto , 
of  888  tons  and  200  horse-power,  when,  with  the  two  vessels 
lashed  stern  to  stern,  the  Rattler ,  screw-propeller,  towed  the 
Alecto  astern  at  the  rate  of  2J  knots  an  hour,  in  spite  of  all 
her  efforts  to  the  contrary.  These  experiments  appear  to 
have  established  a  superiority  for  the  screw  of  17  per  cent. 
Other  vessels  have  since  been  built  in  which  the  screw  is 
used  as  an  auxiliary;  and  it  is  understood  that  the  most 
recent  trials  made  in  the  squadron  of  ships  lately  stationed 
at  Lisbon,  fully  confirm  all  that  was  expected  of  these  ves¬ 
sels.  The  Arrogant,  of  360  horse-power,  the  first  screw- 
frigate  introduced  into  the  navy,  built  by  Mr.  Fincham,  of 
Portsmouth  Dockyard,  has  established  the  principle  of  effi¬ 
ciency  and  economy.  Other  important  points  remain  to  be 
decided  by  means  of  carefully  conducted  experiments,  among 
which  may  be  noted, — 1st.  On  the  best  form  of  a  screw- 
steamer,  so  as  to  overcome  the  resistance  of  the  water,  and 
to  contribute  most  effectually  to  a  good  result  of  the  screw. 
2d.  The  exact  relation  of  horse-power  to  tonnage  that  is 
requisite.  3d.  The  relation  of  the  length  to  the  pitch  of 
the  screw,  which  seems  to  be  a  point  of  considerable  im¬ 
portance  ;  and,  lastly,  the  area  of  sail  that  is  most  suitable. 
The  models  sent  to  the  Exhibition  of  the  St.  Jean  d’ Acre, 
of  100  guns,  the  Agamemnon  of  90  guns,  and  the  Imgte- 
rieuse,  of  50  guns,  besides  various  others,  both  naval  and 
mercantile,  show  the  attention  that  is  now  directed  to  this 
mode  of  propulsion  and  the  rapid  progress  it  is  making. 

In  the  mercantile  navy  the  magnificent  ship  the  Great 
Britain,  constructed  by  the  eminent  builder,  Paterson  of 
Bristol,  claims  the  first  place,  both  as  an  iron  vessel  and  as 
a  screw-propelled  steamer.  This  noble  ship,  317  feet  long, 
with  engines  of  1200  horse-power,  has  repeatedly  made  the 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  421 

voyage  across  the  Atlantic ;  and  now  that  she  has  been  re¬ 
paired  and  strengthened,  is  again  open  to  start  on  a  similar 
voyage,  in  which  it  may  be  hoped  she  may  meet  with  the 
success  that  her  spirited  owners  deserve.  In  a  country  like 
England,  where  iron  is  so  abundant,  cheap,  and  well  adapted 
to  various  purposes,  it  was  natural  to  use  it  instead  of  wood, 
and  it  has  been  largely  substituted  for  timber  in  building 
ships.  The  advantages  of  iron  vessels,  when  carefully  built, 
consist,  generally,  in  their  durability,  strength,  capacity  for 
stowage,  economy,  and  salubrity  ;  but  iron  does  not  appear 
to  be  applicable  for  ships-of-war. 

With  respect  to  economy,  it  appears  that  the  original  cost 
of  paddle-wheel  steamers,  when  fit  for  sea,  is  about  51.  9s. 
per  ton  greater  than  that  of  screw  steamers,  and  that  their 
current  expenses  for  the  year  are  about  8k  per  ton  more 
than  those  of  screw  vessels.  At  the  same  time  the  average 
measure  of  cargo  for  screw  steamers  is  three-fourths  of  a 
ton  for  each  ton  of  builders’  measure,  whilst  for  paddle- 
wheel  steamers  it  is  less  than  half  a  ton,  or  33  per  cent,  less 
than  the  former.  Others  state  the  saving  at  fully  two-thirds 
the  costs  of  each  voyage.  The  greater  economy,  therefore, 
is  manifest. 

There  were  no  models  in  the  Exhibition,  as  far  as  I  am 
aware,  of  the  best  mode  of  drops,  or  other  means  of  coaling 
steamers ;  yet  this  is  a  point  of  great  importance,  especially 
in  our  war-steamers.  At  present,  the  operation  for  a  large 
steamer  is  an  affair  of  three  or  four  days;  thus  one  of  those 
beautiful,  costly  vessels,  with  all  her  equipment,  is  for  that 
period  enveloped  in  a  cloud  of  coal-dust ;  besides  the  delay 
in  case  of  need.  Coals  in  the  North  of  England  are 
“  teemed”  into  collier  vessels  at  the  rate  of  120  tons  an 
hour,  when  run  down  by  rail  from  the  coalpit ;  and  at 
Newport  and  Cardiff,  and  the  coal  ports  in  South  Wales, 
coals  are  shipped  by  steam,  or  by  the  use  of  Armstrong’s 
beautiful  hydraulic  lift,  at  the  rate  of  sixty  tons  an  hour. 
Might  not  something  of  the  sort  be  contrived  in  our  Govern¬ 
ment  ports  ? 

I  feel  that  I  am  travelling  out  of  Class  VIII.,  but  I  can¬ 
not  forbear  to  allude  to  the  exquisite  models  of  marine 
oscillating  engines  exhibited  by  two  of  our  first  English 
makers,  Maudslay  and  Penn ;  the  full-sized  screw*propeller 
36 


422 


ON  NAYAL  ARCHITECTURE  : 


marine  engines,  of  700  liorse-power,  by  James  Watt  and 
Co.,  which  exceeded  100  tons  in  weight ;  and  a  smaller 
pair,  of  seventy  liorse-power,  by  Cockerell,  of  Liege.  The 
progress  of  science  happily  has  broken  through  the  old- 
established  rules  respecting  the  speed  at  which  the  pistons 
of  condensing  steam-engines  should  move ;  and  it  may  be 
hoped  that  ere  long  our  marine  engines  may  approximate 
somewhat  to  the  locomotives.  At  present  the  contrast  is 
great,  as  even  with  direct-action  and  tubular  boilers  we  only 
get  a  power  of  about  four  horses  for  each  ton  weight  of 
engine ;  whereas  some  of  the  largest  locomotives  exceed  a 
power  of  thirty  horses  for  each  ton  weight.  Of  course  there 
are  many  circumstances  to  be  considered,  but  they  can 
hardly  justify  so  great  a  difference  as  is  found  to  exist. 

In  calmly  considering  the  various  beautiful  models  sent 
to  the  Exhibition,  and  especially  those  of  the  Experimental 
Squadrons,  the  philosophical  mind  would  naturally  inquire 
wffiether  the  costly  experiments  these  models  indicate  have 
been  conducted  on  scientific  principles,  and  whether  any 
analysis  of  the  numerous  reports  of  the  trials  which  have 
lately  taken  place  have  been  made,  so  that  the  full  measure 
of  truth,  which,  if  properly  conducted,  they  are  calculated 
to  elicit,  has  been  obtained. 

To  both  these  questions  we  fear  we  must  reply  in  the 
negative.  The  trials  have,  in  many  cases,  been  loosely 
made ;  several  vessels  and  several  points  in  each  vessel  have 
been  tried  together ;  the  builder  of  the  vessel  or  a  qualified 
naval  architect  has  not  been  on  board  to  watch  and  register 
the  several  points  which  he  alone  could  be  competent  to 
judge  of;  nor  is  there  any  complete  register  of  the  several 
facts  brought  out  on  the  trials,  such  as  would  be  useful  to 
a  ship-builder. 

Taking,  however,  the  reports  that  have  been  made  quan¬ 
tum  valeant,  have  the  facts  contained  in  these  reports  been 
compared,  analyzed,  and  submitted  to  a  comprehensive 
generalization  ?  As  far  as  we  are  aware,  it  is  not  the  special 
duty  of  any  persons,  or  even  of  any  individual,  to  undertake 
such  a  task.  It  would  naturally  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  sur¬ 
veyor’s  office,  but  the  staff  of  that  office,  however  competent, 
is  quite  inadequate  to  the  work ;  the  iaily  routine  of  office 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  423 

business,  in  attending  to  the  wants  of  ships  building,  repair¬ 
ing,  and  in  commission,  is  already  more  than  it  can  grapple 
with. 

The  consideration  of  the  models  of  marine  engines,  and 
of  their  application  to  the  screw-propeller,  suggest  similar 
inquiries,  and  the  very  great  cost  of  these  engines  renders 
the  necessity  of  such  comparison  and  analysis  even  yet  more 
imperative.  Some  of  the  recent  trials  of  the  screw-steamers, 
and  especially  in  the  Lisbon  squadron,  appear  to  have  been 
conducted  with  great  care,  and  the  results  are  proportionably 
valuable.  The  same  may  be  said  of  a  table  printed  by  the 
Admiralty,  showing  the  introduction  and  progressive  in¬ 
crease  of  screw  propulsion  in  her  Majesty’s  navy,  which  is 
extremely  interesting  and  instructive.  But  this  table, 
valuable  as  it  is,  and  highly  creditable  as  it  is  to  the  in¬ 
dustry  of  those  who  compiled  it,  only  affords  the  elements 
of  the  analysis  and  comparison  that  I  contend  for.  What 
information  it  may  convey  to  a  professional  engineer  I  am 
no  judge  of,  but  to  a  casual  observer  it  is  difficult  to  recon¬ 
cile  the  performance  of  the  several  engines  as  shown  by 
their  indicated  horse-power.  As  for  “  nominal”  horse-power, 
it  only  serves  to  mystify,  and  the  sooner  the  term  is  exploded 
the  better.  The  average  results  of  this  table  show  that  in¬ 
dicated  horse-power  is  nearly  double  the  nominal ;  but  in 
the  case  of  the  Fairy  it  is  fully  treble,  and  it  is  understood 
that  in  the  Banshee,  paddle-wheel  steamer,  before  referred 
to,  and  the  Vivid,  the  indicated  horse-power  is  about  five 
times,  and  in  the  Onyx ,  Violet,  &c.,  four  times  the  nominal. 
The  Llewellyn,  Holyhead  packet  of  654  tons,  and  350 
nominal  horse-power,  and  the  Terrible  of  1850  tons,  and 
800  nominal  horse-power,  both  worked  up  to  the  same  mark 
of  1800  as  the  indicated  horse-power !  If  nominal  horse¬ 
power  means  the  same  in  paddle-wheel  and  screw-steamers 
(which  I  believe  it  does  not),  why  these  great  differences? 
The  question  of  cost  I  do  not  enter  into.  The  above  casual 
remarks  may  illustrate  the  desirableness  of  a  careful  register 
of  all  experiments  and  an  equally  careful  analysis  and  com¬ 
parison  of  all  results  obtained.  Surely  there  cannot  be  a 
want  of  men  of  talent  to  undertake  this  task.  But  will  the 
country  avail  itself  of  this  talent  ? 


424 


ON  NAY AIi  ARCHITECTURE: 


Classification. 

iff, 

During  nearly  thirty  years  the  formation  of  a  steam  navy 
has  been  changing  the  character  of  England’s  defences. 
The  Great  Exhibition  plainly  teaches  us  that  hitherto 
nearly  all  has  been  experimental ;  we  have  been  in  a  state 
of  transition.  But  surely  the  time  has  now  arrived  when 
it  would  seem  incumbent  on  our  rulers  to  form  a  system 
of  classification  with  reference  to  particular  descriptions  of 
service,  having  respect  to  the  general  dimensions  of  ships, 
the  proportion  of  steam  power  to  those  dimensions,  and  the 
amount  of  armament. 

Perhaps  never  did  the  value  of  classification  come  out 
into  such  striking  relief  as  in  the  Great  Exhibition.  What 
a  Babel  of  confusion  would  not  that  vast  building  have 
been  without  a  happily  devised  system  of  classification ;  but 
by  its  aid  chaos  became  order.  We  are  told*  that  mill¬ 
wrights  have  classified  toothed  wheels,  and  that  an  eminent 
engineer  would  classify  screws,  wheels,  axles,  &c.  If,  then, 
for  such  small  articles  its  value  is  recognised,  how  much 
more  necessary  does  classification  become  when  applied  to 
such  vast  machines  as  steam-ships  and  their  engines  ?  I  am 
afraid  to  say  what  number  of  different  engines  we  may  have 
among  the  200  steamers  of  which  our  navy  is  composed ; 
but,  perhaps,  to  assert  that  each  ship  has  its  own  peculiar 
arrangement  would  not  be  far  from  the  truth. 

Classification,  too,  should  be  extended  to  our  sailing  ves¬ 
sels.  Would  any  one  not  acquainted  with  our  navy  credit 
that,  to  speak  within  bounds,  there  are  thirty  classes  of  ves¬ 
sels  between  a  first-rate  and  a  brig  ?  Within  the  last  ten 
years  we  have  launched  six  classes  of  brigs  alone.  Now 
each  of  these  thirty  classes  of  vessels  requires  masts,  spars, 
sails,  and  stores  of  all  sorts  :  the  consequent  waste,  and  the 
difficulty  of  supplying  wants  on  a  foreign  station,  may  be 
imagined.  But  classification  of  marine  engines  and  of  all 
their  parts  seems  more  imperatively  called  for,  and  at  once, 
or  the  complication  that  a  few  years  will  produce  is  not  to 
be  told.  Mr.  Atherton  has  strongly  urged  the  importance 
of  this  subject;  he  advises  that  the  respective  fleets  em- 

*  See  “Inaugural  Lecture,”  by  Dr.  Whewell,  p.  27. 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  425 

ployed  in  steam-shipping  establishments  be  constructed  on 
a  definite  plan  of  general  arrangements,  and  that  the  varia¬ 
tions  of  power  be  regulated  by  a  definite  scale  of  sizes  con¬ 
stituting  a  classification  system.  It  is  probable  that  six  or 
at  most  eight  classes  would  be  ample  for  the  purposes 
required. 


Armaments. 

It  might  seem  u  the  play  of  Hamlet,  without  the  part  of 
Ilamlet,”  to  speak  of  ships-of-war  without  mentioning  their 
armaments,  were  it  not  that  I  consider  all  warlike  weapons 
would  have  been  better  excluded  from  the  Exhibition, 
which  was  essentially  a  peaceful  gathering,  and  specially 
intended  by  its  royal  founder  to  knit  all  nations  together 
in  the  bonds  of  peace  and  concord.  I  may,  however,  briefly 
state  that,  for  a  long  series  of  years,  nay,  centuries,  we  con¬ 
trived  to  over-load  our  ships  with  more  guns  than  their 
limited  dimensions  and  crowded  quarters  would  bear.  We 
placed  12,  18,  24,  and  32-pounders  together  in  the  same 
ship,  risking  admirable  confusion  in  handing  up  cartridge 
and  shot  in  time  of  action ;  and  as  a  crowning  measure  we 
armed  some  of  our  vessels  entirely  with  carronades ;  so  that 
an  opponent’s  ship,  armed  with  long  guns,  and  having  the 
advantage  of  speed,  could  take  up  her  position  and  destroy 
her  adversary  without  receiving  a  shot  in  return. 

Happily  those  times  are  past.  Our  ships  now  carx-y  long 
32-pounders  throughout  on  all  their  decks,  except  a  stray 
68-poundci-,  reserved  for  some  special  occasion :  the  gun- 
carriages  are  better  fitted,  and  adapted  to  the  stern  and 
chase  ports  of  a  ship,  so  that  several  guns  can  be  fired 
in  the  line  of  keel.  The  powder  is  preserved  from  damp  in 
wood  cases  with  metallic  linings;  and  the  magazines  are 
more  commodiously  placed.  These  latter,  kowevei’,  are 
still  susceptible  of  improvement.  The  separate  passages 
adopted  in  the  French  navy  for  the  conveyance  of  cartridges 
from  the  magazines  up  to  the  several  decks  or  batteries 
of  a  line-of-battle  ship,  might  probably  be  studied  with 
advantage. 

But  my  space  is  exhausted ;  I  can  only  regret  that  the 
maritime  nations  of  the  Continent  did  not  send  to  the 
-  36* 


426 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE  : 


Exhibition  specimens  of  their  naval  architecture.  The 
Swedish  ship-builders,  inheritors  of  the  science  and  art 
f  the  celebrated  Chapman,  author  of  the  Architectura 
Navalis  Mercatoria,  would  have  figured  honourably,  even 
in  comparison  with  the  most  advanced  seafaring  people. 
Nor  have  the  French  builders  of  Havre,  Nantes,  Bordeaux, 
and  Marseille,  contributed  to  the  Exhibition.  From  France 
came  only  a  design  of  the  great  iron  steamer  built  for  the 
navigation  of  the  Rhone,  the  most  rapid  and  dangerous  of 
the  French  rivers,  by  Schneider,  of  Creuzot,  who,  during 
the  last  twelve  years,  has  built  eighteen  steamers,  varying 
from  80  to  300  horse-power,  for  that  traffic. 

Nor  have  I  time  to  do  more  than  mention  Sir  William 
Snow  Harris’s  admirable  lightning-conductor — an  example 
of  the  practical  use  that  abstract  science  may  be  to  our  navy 
and  to  the  cause  of  humanity — an  invention  that  deservedly 
received  a  Council  medal.  Also  the  chain  cables  of  Sir 
Samuel  Brown ;  the  anchors  by  Porter  and  Rodger ;  Robert¬ 
son’s  excellent  Manilla  rope;  Erricssen’s  sounding-machine; 
the  Admiralty’s  admirable  steering  and  azimuth  compasses; 
Dent’s  excellent  steering  and  portable  azimuth  compasses; 
Napier’s  magnetic  course  indicator ;  and  the  Satellite  com 
pass,  by  St.  John  of  Buffalo,  intended  to  point  out  and 
measure  the  effect  upon  the  needle  of  any  distributing 
force  or  local  attraction, — a  plan  which,  if  wrell  worked  out, 
might  prove  valuable  on  board  iron  vessels. 

Nor,  albeit  I  may  lay  myself  open  to  Moliere’s  witty  re¬ 
mark,  “  Vous  etes  orfevre,  Monsieur  Josse,”  can  I  deny  my¬ 
self  the  gratification  of  referring  to  the  admirable  charts  of 
the  coast  of  France  published  by  the  Depot  de  la  Adarine 
under  the  superintendence  of  that  veteran  surveyor,  M. 
Beautems  Beaupre,  which  compose  the  superb  atlas  Le  Nep¬ 
tune  Frangais ;  and  to  the  far  more  voluminous  charts  and 
plans  of  the  Hydrographic  Office  of  the  Admiralty,  not  only 
of  our  own  coasts,  but  of  nearly  every  country  on  the  face 
of  the  globe,  prepared  under  the  direction  of  our  own  re¬ 
spected  chief,  Rear  Admiral  Sir  Francis  Beaufort,  in  which 
is  shown  what  science  can  do — when  science  is  allowed  to 
prevail — in  furnishing  the  navigator  with  a  guide  that  en¬ 
ables  him  to  pursue  with  confidence  his  path  along  the  shores 
or  across  the  trackless  ocean. 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  427 


Fishing-boats. 

Fishing-boats,  however,  must  have  one  word.  The  value 
of  the  fisheries  in  this  country,  and  the  means  they  afford 
of  supplying  the  poor  with  cheap  and  nutritious  food,  is  too 
important  not  to  claim  notice.  Cornwall  contributed  to  the 
Exhibition  a  model  of  her  Mevagissey  and  St.  Ive’s  drift- 
boats  for  taking  pilchards,  with  their  nets  and  gear  •  and 
Semmens  and  Co.,  of  Penzance,  sent  a  fine  Mount’s  Bay 
fishing-boat — a  class  of  boats  which  have  not  their  superior 
round  the  coasts  of  England.  On  the  drawing  exhibited 
this  evening  are  the  lines  of  the  most  approved  fishing-boats 
all  round  the  coast  of  the  United  Kingdom,  not  one  of  which 
surpasses  the  Mount’s  Bay  boat.  There  were  also  at  the 
Exhibition  models  of  the  Hastings,  Deal,  and  Ramsgate 
luggers,  a  Yorkshire  coble,  and  a  Peterhead  herring-boat, 
and,  though  last  not  least,  the  model  of  a  fishing-smack  of 
Mr.  J.  E.  Saunders,  fitted  with  an  auxiliary  screw-propeller, 
which  deservedly  obtained  a  medal ;  the  smack  is  now  fish¬ 
ing  successfully  on  the  Dogger  Bank,  runs  her  fish  to  Grims¬ 
by  in  the  Humber,  and  thence  by  rail  to  London,  where  the 
fish  is  delivered  within  twenty-four  hours  of  its  being  caught 
in  the  middle  of  the  North  Sea.  When  we  consider  that 
the  fishing-boats  of  the  United  Kingdom  in  1850  amounted 
to  86,000  boats,  manned  by  150,000  men  and  boys,  it  will 
be  admitted  that  this  class  of  men  deserves  some  considera¬ 
tion — that  all  that  can  be  done  towards  improving  the  boats, 
such  as  giving  them  moderate  speed,  easy  motion  at  sea, 
shelter  and  comfort  for  the  crew,  capacity  for  carrying  a 
large  cargo,  and  safety  in  taking  the  beach,  should  be  done  ; 
and  that  as  far  as  may  be  their  small  harbours  should  be 
deepened,  to  enable  them  to  obtain  shelter  in  time  of  need, 
and  at  all  states  of  the  tide. 

I  turn  to  life-boats — the  only  point  on  which  I  can  pre¬ 
tend  to  a  little  knowledge — and  have  to  express  my  extreme 
regret,  that  the  large  subject  of  Shipping,  which  is  the  busi¬ 
ness  of  a  professed  Naval  Architect,  should  have  been  left 
to  a  sailor  to  treat  upon. 


428 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE  : 


LIFE-BOATS. 

At  the  extreme  western  encl  of  the  gallery  of  that  mighty 
building  replete  with  objects,  either  the  produce  of  our  own 
country  or  of  foreign  lands,  which  contributed  to  make  up 
the  glorious  ensemble  of  the  Great  Exhibition  of  the  Art 
and  Industry  of  all  Nations,  might  have  been  seen  by  the 
attentive  observer,  amongst  other  kindred  specimens,  a  group 
of  models  of  boats  of  a  peculiar  and  unusual  form.  These 
boats  were  models  of  life-boats.  And  however  rich  in  the 
treasures  and  wonders  of  art,  the  Exhibition  without  them 
would  not  have  faithfully  represented  this  country,  inasmuch 
as  it  would  have  omitted  one  striking  national  feature  of  our 
land — the  efforts  made  in  the  cause  of  humanity. 

It  will,  doubtless,  be  familiar  to  all  assembled  in  this 
hall,  that  it  was  to  the  munificence  of  his  Grace  the  Duke 
of  Northumberland,  President  of  the  National  Shipwreck 
Institution,  that  we  were  indebted  for  that  collection.  In 
consequence  of  the  numerous  cases  of  shipwreck,  and  the 
accidents  that  had  happened  to  life-boats  around  the  coasts, 
and  especially  the  recent  lamentable  case  of  the  upsetting 
of  the  Shields  life-boat,  whereby  twenty  of  the  best  pilots 
out  of  the  Tyne  were  drowned,  his  Grace  offered  a  reward 
for  the  best  model  of  a  life-boat.  This  offer  was  liberally 
responded  to  by  boat-builders  and  others  from  all  parts  of 
this  kingdom,  and  from  France,  Holland,  Germany,  and  the 
United  States  of  America,  and  the  large  number  of  280 
models  and  plans  were  sent  in.  Some  fifty  of  the  best  of 
these  formed  the  Duke’s  contribution  to  the  Great  Exhi¬ 
bition. 

A  report  on  these  models,  accompanied  by  plans  and 
drawings  of  the  most  approved  of  them,  was  prepared  at  the 
expense  of  his  Grace,  and  1300  copies  of  it  gratuitously  dis¬ 
tributed,  not  only  .throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  our 
island,  but  to  all  the  maritime  nations  of  Europe  and  the 
United  States  of  America;  in  addition  to  which  his  Grace 
publicly  expressed  his  intention  of  placing  the  best  life¬ 
boats  that  can  be  built,  and  every  means  for  saving  life 
from  shipwreck,  on  all  the  exposed  points  of  the  coast  of 
Northumberland. 

It  would  ill  become  me  to  pronounce  an  eulogium  on  such 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  429 

princely  generosity  in  this  sacred  cause;  hut  I  am  permitted 
to  quote  the  words  of  the  distinguished  senator,  Baron 
Charles  Dupin,  Chairman  of  the  Jury  of  Class  VIII.,  who, 
after  reciting  the  above  facts,  sums  up  the  award  of  the 
J ury  in  the  following  words  : — 

“  These  models  figure  among  the  most  valuable  productions 
in  our  Great  Exhibition,  and  furnish  a  splendid  example  of 
liberality,  in  the  cause  of  humanity  and  practical  science, 
never  surpassed,  if  ever  equalled.  Such  are  the  motives  for 
which  we  have  judged  his  Grace  the  Duke  of  Northumber¬ 
land  worthy  of  receiving  the  Council  medal.” 

Such,  then,  being  the  importance  attached  to  these  models 
by  the  unanimous  decision  of  a  Jury  composed  of  distin¬ 
guished  men  of  all  nations,  and  the  object  being  the  cause 
of  humanity,  I  propose,  as  briefly  as  I  possibly  can,  to  lay 
before  you : — 

1st.  The  frightful  amount  of  shipwreck  and  loss  of  life 
that  annually  takes  place  around  our  coasts,  showing  the 
necessity  for  life-boats. 

2dly.  To  pass  in  review  the  peculiar  features  of  the  prin¬ 
cipal  models  sent  to  the  Exhibition,  and  to  offer  an  opinion 
on  the  essential  qualities  of  a  good  life-boat,  as  to  form,  di¬ 
mensions,  material,  &c. 

odly.  To  show  the  present  meagre  supply  of  boats  and 
other  means  of  saving  life  around  the  seaboard  of  the 
United  Kingdom  ;  and 

Lastly.  To  offer  some  suggestions  as  to  the  best  means 
of  diminishing  the  frequency  of  shipwreck,  and  of  saving 
the  lives  of  those  who  unfortunately  may  be  exposed  to  it. 

If  there  be  one  subject  more  than  another  that  might  be 
expected  to  command  the  attention  and  enlist  the  sympathy 
of  a  maratime  country  like  Great  Britain,  it  surely  must  be 
the  safety  and  welfare  of  those  of  her  sons.  “  whose  business 
is  in  the  great  waters,”  and  yet  how  imperfectly  informed, 
how  supinely  indifferent,  is  the  great  bulk  of  our  population 
as  to  the  causes,  the  prevention,  or  the  mitigation  of  the 
horrors  of  shipwreck ! 

From  official  returns  it  appears,  that  in  the  course  of  the 
year  1850  there  were  G92  vessels,  of  1,27,188  tons  burthen, 
wrecked  belonging  to  the  United  Kingdom,  or  nearly  two 


430 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE: 


a-day.  Of  these,  only  four  were  steamers.  In  the  year 
1850  alone,  681  British  and  foreign  vessels  were  wrecked  on 
the  coasts  and  within  the  seas  of  the  British  Isles.  Of 
these  vessels,  367  were  total  wrecks,  sunk  by  leaks  or  colli¬ 
sions,  or  abandoned ;  and  304  were  stranded  and  damaged 
so  as  to  require  them  to  discharge  cargo;  making  a  total  of 
681  wrecks.  As  nearly  as  can  be  ascertained,  780  lives 
were  lost.  However  large  it  may  appear,  this  is  not  any 
very  unusual  number  :  a  similar  amount  is  annually  lost, 
leaving  a  proportionate  number  of  widows  and  orphans. 

It  is  not  an  uncommon  occurrence  for  a  single  gale  of 
wind  to  strew  the  coast  with  wrecks.  In  three  separate 
gales  which  occurred  in  the  years  1821,  1824,  and  1829, 
there  were  lost  on  the  east  coast  of  England,  between  the 
Humber  and  the  Tees,  169  vessels.  In  the  single  gale  of 
the  31st  August  and  1st  September,  1833,  no  less  than  61 
British  vessels  were  lost  on  the  sands  in  the  North  Sea  and 
on  the  east  coast  of  England.  In  the  disastrous  gale  of  the 
13th  January,  1843,  103  vessels  were  wrecked  on  the  coasts 
of  the  United  Kingdom.  In  the  gales  of  1846  as  many  as 
39  vessels  got  ashore  in  Hartlepool  Bay  alone.  In  the 
month  of  March  1850,  not  less  than  134  vessels  were 
wrecked  on  our  own  coasts.  In  the  gale  of  the  25th  and 
26th  September  last,  not  less  than  117  vessels,  and  in  the 
whole  month  153,  were  stranded,  came  into  collision,  or  sunk 
within  the  seas  and  along  the  shores  of  the  United  Kingdom, 
or  more  than  five  a-day;  and  during  the  month  of  January 
of  the  present  year,  120  vessels  more  have  been  added  to  the 
number.  These  instances,  many  of  which  happen  to  have 
been  made  public  by  being  laid  before  Parliament,  are  only 
a  few  out  of  the  number  that  might  be  cited,  and  even  these 
probably  fall  short  of  the  real  numbers.  No  complete 
record  of  shipwrecks  is  kept;  Lloyd’s  List,  however  full, 
is  confessedly  imperfect.  But  the  facts  quoted  are  sufficient 
to  prove  an  appalling  amount  of  loss  of  life,  and  the  abso¬ 
lute  necessity  that  exists  for  establishing  around  our  coasts 
the  most  perfect  means  in  our  power  for  the  preservation  of 
life  from  shipwreck.  Of  these  means  the  most  important 
is  the  life-boat. 

The  first  life-boat  used  in  England  was  invented  by  Henry 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  431 

Greathead,  boat-builder  of  South  Shields,  in  1789,  in  con¬ 
sequence  of  the  wreck  of  the  Adventure  on  the  Herd  Sand 
at  the  entrance  of  the  Tyne.  As  the  first  boat  of  the  sort, 
the  original  model  of  which,  on  the  scale  of  one  inch  to  a 
foot,  now  lies  on  the  table,  it  may  be  as  well  to  record  her 
exact  dimensions.  They  are  as  follows  : — Length  extreme, 
30  feet;  length  of  keel,  20  feet;  breadth  of  beam,  10  feet; 
depth  of  waist,  31  feet;  depth  inside  to  the  deck,  21  feet; 
stem  and  stern  alike,  51  feet  high;  sheer  of  gunwale,  30 
inches;  pulls  ten  oars,  double-banked  with  thole-pins  and 
grummets.  Very  raking  stem  and  sternpost;  depth  of 
main  keel,  4  inches;  great  camber  or  curvature  of  keel, 
with  three  sliding  keels.  A  cork  lining  12  inches  thick  on 
each  side,  fore  and  aft,  from  the  deck  to  the  thwarts;  and 
a  cork  fender  outside,  10  inches  deep,  4  inches  wide,  and 
21  feet  long,  not  reaching  to  stem  or  stern  within  41  feet. 
She  would  not  free  herself  of  water,  nor  self-right  in  the 
event  of  being  upset.  This  boat  was  built  by  subscription 
at  South  Shields,  and  launched  in  January  1790.  The 
Society  of  Arts  rewarded  the  inventor  with  its  Gold  Medal 
and  fifty  guineas  in  the  year  1802  ;*  and  Parliament  voted 
to  him  1200/.  in  acknowledgement  of  tha»  utility  of  his  in¬ 
vention. 

From  that  period,  now  sixty  years  ago,  to  the  present 
time,  various  modifications  of  the  above  boat  have  been  built. 
Some  have  introduced  air-tight  cases  instead  of  cork,  some 
water-ballast,  &c. ;  but  reserving  for  the  present  any  remark 
on  them,  we  come  at  once  to  the  Northumberland  prize- 
model  by  James  Beeching,  of  Great  Yarmouth,  which  was 
sent  to  the  Great  Exhibition. 

It  may  be  seen  from  the  model  of  that  boat  now  on  the 
table  that,  from  her  form,  she  would  both  pull  and  sail  well 
in  all  weathers :  would  have  great  stability,  and  be  a  good 
sea-boat;  she  has  moderately  small  internal  capacity  under 
the  level  of  the  thwarts  for  holding  water,  and  ample  means 
for  freeing  herself  readily  of  any  water  that  might  be 
shipped;  she  is  ballasted  by  means  of  water  admitted  into 
a  well  or  tank  at  the  bottom  after  she  is  afloat ;  and  by 
means  of  that  ballast  and  raised  air-cases  at  the  extremities. 

*  “Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Arts,”  vol.  xx.  p.  283. 


432 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE  : 


she  would  right  herself  in  the  event  of  being  upset.  It  will 
thus  be  seen  that  this  model  combines  most  of  the  qualities 
required  in  a  life-boat ;  and  the  boat  which  has  since  been 
built  after  it,  and  is  now  stationed  at  Ramsgate,  is  said  to 
answer  her  purpose  admirably. 

Many  others  of  the  models  sent  to  the  Exhibition  have 
somewhat  similar  good  features.  Ilinks,  of  Appledorc,  to 
whom  a  medal  was  awarded,  has  greatly  reduced  the  internal 
capacity  of  his  boat,  which  gives  him  precedence  over  some 
otherwise  equally  good  forms.  Plenty,  of  Newbury,  also  a 
medallist,  has  done  the  same;  he  has  also  shown  much  skill  in 
the  mode  of  applying  cork  to  the  bottom  of  his  boat.  Two 
small  boats  by  this  builder,  one  at  Appledore,  Devon,  and 
the  other  at  Skegness,  in  Lincolnshire,  have  been  instru¬ 
mental  in  saving  120  lives.  Harvey  and  Son,  of  Ipswich, 
contribute  a  fine  sailing-boat,  which  has  the  property  of 
ballasting  with  water.  The  model  of  Forrest  and  Laurie, 
also,  has  some  good  points,  and  takes  a  fair  stand.  Teasdel, 
of  Great  Yarmouth,  another  well-deserved  medal,  is  well 
known  as  having  built  several  fine  boats  stationed  at  Cais- 
tor,  Pakefield,  and  Southwold,  on  the  coasts  of  Norfolk  and 
Suffolk,  which  have  been  the  means  of  saving  seventy-two 
lives.  One  excellent  feature  in  his  boats  is  the  use  of  air- 
cases  detached  from  the  side,  so  that  they  can  be  examined 
and  repaired  at  any  time.  In  point  of  workmanship  and 
finish,  Teasdel’s  models  were  not  surpassed  by  any  sent  to 
the  Exhibition. 

Costain,  of  Liverpool,  is  also  entitled  to  credit  for  his  de¬ 
tached  air-cases,  in  the  form  of  breakers  or  small  barrels, 
secured  to  the  side ;  and  for  his  diagonal  mode  of  building. 
His  boat,  from  its  form,  would  pull  and  sail  fairly,  and 
have  good  stability;  but  it  has  large  internal  capacity,  no 
means  of  freeing  itself  from  water  that  may  be  shipped,  and 
would  not  right  in  the  event  of  being  upset.  At  the  same 
time  it  must  be  remarked  that  there  are  nine  boats  (built 
on  this  model,  we  believe)  stationed  at  Liverpool;  there  are 
also  boats  designed  by  him  at  Carnarvon,  at  Anglesea,  and 
Shoreham.  The  Liverpool  Life-boats,  supported  by  the 
Dock  Trustees,  and  under  the  superintendence  of  Lieut. 
Lord,  R.N.,  have  been  the  means  of  assisting  269  vessels, 
and  saving  1128  lives  during  the  last  eleven  years,  so  that 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  433 

the  Doats  must  be  fine  sea-boats,  and,  in  addition  (which 
has  no  doubt  a  great  deal  to  do  with  it),  must  be  efficiently 
manned  and  well  managed. 

Bromley,  of  Sheerness,  has  ingeniously  filled  in  the  in¬ 
terior  of  his  boat,  from  the  keelson  to  the  flat,  with  cork 
and  air  quartered  alternately,  thus  reducing  his  internal 
capacity  by  a  combination  of  ballast  and  buoyancy.  Lieu¬ 
tenant  Sharpe,  II. N.,  proposes  to  fill  the  whole  of  his  boat 
below  the  thwarts  (excepting  spaces  for  the  rowers)  with 
cork,  so  arranged  that  he  can  remove  pieces  of  it  to  make 
room  for  passengers,  when  required.  Hodgson,  of  Blyth, 
and  Arrowsmith,  of  Portsmouth,  also  fit  their  boats  with 
cork,  so  distributed  as  to  greatly  reduce  internal  capacity, 
and  yet  to  leave  ample  space  for  passengers.  Unquestion¬ 
ably  the  use  of  cork  is  preferable  to  air-cases  as  being  less 
subject  to  injury,  and  there  seems  reason  to  believe  that 
the  lightest  fishermen’s  cork  is  sufficiently  light  to  be  used 
for  the  greater  part  under  the  deck  instead  of  air-cases  for 
reducing  the  internal  capacity,  and  at  the  same  time  heavy 
enough  to  act  as  ballast  instead  of  water. 

The  late  Commodore  Lord  John  Hay,  C.  B.,  Superintend¬ 
ent  of  Her  Majesty’s  Dockyard  atDevonport,  sent  the  model 
of  a  life-boat,  which  now  lies  on  the  table.  It  will  be  seen 
that  this  boat  would  pull  moderately  well  and  sail  fairly, 
would  free  herself  from  water,  would  right  herself  quickly 
in  the  event  of  being  upset,  but  is  rather  wanting  in  stabi¬ 
lity.  The  boat  is  of  a  peculiar  mode  of  practical  building, 
being  constructed  of  narrow  planks,  pinned  together  through 
the  edges,  without  timbers.  It  is  said  to  be  both  durable 
and  economical. 

Mr.  Turner,  Assistant  Master  Shipwright  at  Devonport, 
also  submitted  the  model  of  a  boat  which  he  proposes  as  a 
Coast  Guard  safety-galley.  Such  a  boat  would  pull  fast, 
would  free  herself  of  water,  would  right  herself  in  the 
event  of  being  upset,  but  seems  wanting  in  stability.  The 
former  of  these  are  valuable  points  in  a  boat  to  be  em¬ 
ployed  in  a  service  so  exposed  to  bad  weather  as  that  of  the 
Coast  Guard,  and  a  boat  of  this  description,  with  sufficient 
stability,  would  be  of  great  use  in  the  Revenue  service. 

The  group  of  life-boats  generally,  from  Shields,  the  Tyne, 
Sunderland,  and  others  from  Hartlepool  and  Whitby,  may 
37 


434 


ON  NAVAL  architecture: 


be  considered  as  having  for  its  type  a  fiat-bottomed  troop- 
boat,  or  steamer’s  paddle-box  boat.  The  model  of  Farrow, 
of  South  Shields,  which  gained  the  first  premium  in  a  life¬ 
boat  model  competition  at  South  Shields  in  1842,  and  again 
at  Newcastle  in  1850,  is  perhaps  a  fair  specimen  of  this 
class.  It  has  small  internal  capacity,  a  moderate  propor¬ 
tion  of  delivering  area  (although  not  enough),  water  ballast 
in  the  bottom  to  be  admitted  when  afloat,  raised  air-cases 
in  the  bow  and  stern-sheets,  clear  access  to  the  extremities, 
ample  room  for  carrying  passengers,  and  she  might  right 
herself  in  the  event  of  being  upset,  all  of  which  are  good 
qualities.  With  respect  to  the  form  of  this  class  of  boats, 
its  advantages,  beyond  great  stability,  are  not  easy  to  be 
discovered ;  if  the  life-boats  were  towed  out  to  the  site  of 
the  wreck  by  a  steam-tug,  as  at  Liverpool  (and  which,  in  a 
port  like  Shields,  abounding  with  steam-tugs,  might  have 
been  expected),  it  would  be  easier  to  understand  it;  but  for 
a  boat  that  has  to  pull  out  of  a  river,  and  often  against  a 
strong  wind  and  tide,  it  is  difficult  to  comprehend  why  such 
a  form  as  that  given  to  the  Yarmouth  boat,  No.  1,  should 
not  be  preferred.  It  must,  however,  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  boats  stationed  at  North  and  South  Shields  have  done 
good  service,  and  been  instrumental  in  saving  hundreds  of 
lives. 

Lee,  of  Tweedmouth,  Milburn,  of  Blyth,  and  Edmond,  of 
Scarborough,  have  sent  life-boats  after  the  model  of  the 
north-country  coble.  The  good  qualities  of  the  coble  on  the 
coasts  of  Northumberland,  Durham,  and  Yorkshire,  when 
employed  as  a  pilot-boat,  or  a  fishing-boat,  and  in  shallow 
water,  and  for  landing  on,  or  embarking  from,  a  flat  beach 
in  not  very  stormy  weather,  are  too  well  known  to  require 
remark ;  but  it  is  doubted  whether  the  form  is  applicable 
for  the  general  purposes  of  a  life-boat,  either  on  a  flat  coast 
or  on  any  other.  The  low  square  stern  and  want  of  keel 
on  the  after  body  will  not  admit  of  running  the  boat  before 
the  wind  when  blowing  hard ;  and  in  proof,  it  may  be  stated, 
that  in  an  accident  at  Newbiggin,  in  March  1851,  when  four¬ 
teen  lives  were  lost,  some  of  the  cobles  went  down  by  the 
stern,  and  the  very  fishermen  who  invariably  use  the  coble 
for  their  own  purposes,  have  expressed  a  wish  to  have  a  life¬ 
boat  of  a  whale-boat  form. 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  435 

Another  class  of  boats,  offering  in  form  a  strong  contrast 
to  the  Shields  boats  before  mentioned,  require  notice,  as 
they  seem  to  be  intended  by  their  builders  for  contending 
with  rapid  tides  and  smoother  water,  rather  than  the  ordi¬ 
nary  heavy  open  sea  to  which  life-boats  are  commonly  ex¬ 
posed.  Their  breadth  is  about  one-fourth  their  length.  The 
models  of  Messrs.  White,  the  well-known  builders,  at  Cowes ; 
ot  Tredwen,  of  Padstow;  of  Semmens  and  Thomas,  of  Pen¬ 
zance;  of  Lieut.  Sharpe,  R.N.,  of  Hanwell  Park;  of 
Sparke,  of  Exeter;  and  of  Bromley,  of  Sheerness,  belong  to 
this  group.  As  a  rowing-boat  in  moderate  weather,  a  boat 
alter  the  model  of  the  Messrs.  White  would  distance  most  of 
those  sent  to  the  Exhibition ;  and  it  is  known  that  in  very 
heavy  weather  such  a  boat  has  been  the  means  of  saving 
life.  The  boat  of  Mr.  George  Palmer,  of  Nazing  Park,  Es¬ 
sex,  is  also  of  this  class.  It  claims  attention  as  being  the 
model  which  has  hitherto  been  generally  adopted  by  the 
National  Shipwreck  Institution ;  and  several  similar  boats 
are  placed  around  the  coasts,  as  at  the  Isle  of  Anglesey,  and 
elsewhere. 

Among  other  models  was  one  by  Mr.  Willem  Van  Hou- 
ten,  of  Rotterdam,  President  of  the  South  Holland  Shipo- 
wreck  Institution,  being  that  of  the  life-boat  in  use  in 
Holland,  where  six  boats  are  stationed  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  entrance  to  Rotterdam.  This  boat  has  a  flat  bottom, 
to  suit  it  to  the  nature  of  the  coast;  it  is  said  to  have  been 
the  means  of  saving  many  lives.  M.  Ed.  Lahure,  of 
Havre,  to  whom  the  Jury  awarded  a  medal,  sent  a  full-sized 
boat,  such  as  is  in  use  at  that  port ;  it  is  of  iron,  with  a 
very  rising  floor.  It  is  said  to  right  itself  in  the  event  of 
being  upset,  and  to  have  been  the  means  of  saving  several 
lives.  Francis,  of  New  York,  also  sent  a  model  of  what  is 
termed  the  “life  surf-boat,”  which  has  the  peculiarity  of 
being  made  of  corrugated  galvanized  iron.  From  experi¬ 
ments  that  have  been  made  on  this  boat,  it  appears  unsuit¬ 
able,  under  its  present  form,  for  the  general  purposes  of  a 
life-boat  on  any  part  of  the  coast  of  this  country.  We  learn 
from  the  printed  testimonials  which  accompany  this  model, 
that  the  Government  in  the  United  States  have  established 
life-boat  stations  along  the  coast  of  New  Jersey  at  every  ten 
miles  apart,  at  a  cost,  for  the  whole,  of  2000/. 


436 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE  : 


We  may  here  add  that  there  are  life-boats  in  France  sta¬ 
tioned  at  Havre,  Boulogne,  and  Calais  ;  in  Belgium,  at  Dun-  * 
kirk  and  Ostend;  in  Holland,  at  Zieriksee,  Brouwcrshauen, 
Rockanje,  Grave’ sande,  Ter  Heide,  and  Schevcningen,  or 
three  on  each  side  of  the  entrance  of  the  river  leading  to 
Rotterdam,  within  a  distance  of  twenty  miles  on  either  side. 
There  are  also,  it  is  said,  eleven  life-boats  stationed  on  the 
east  coast  of  Jutland,  at  the  expense  of  the  Danish  Go¬ 
vernment,  but  we  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain  the  names 
of  the  stations ;  and  some  on  the  coast  of  Prussia,  on  the 
shores  of  the  Baltic.  We  regret  that  we  are  not  able, 
either,  to  name  where  these  are  placed  ;  but  we  well  know 
that  the  inhabitants  of  the  Island  of  Rtigen  are  famed  for 
their  hospitality  and  kindness  to  shipwrecked  sailors,  and 
we  believe  that  there  are  some  ancient  humane  laws  still  in 
force  respecting  wrecks,  which  are  immediately  taken  charge 
of  by  Government  officers,  and  thus  those  disgraceful  scenes 
formerly  of  common  occurrence  nearer  home  are  entirely 
prevented. 

In  several  of  the  models  it  is  proposed  to  use  paddle- 
wheels,  and  in  some  a  screw,  as  a  propeller,  to  be  worked 
by  cranks.  Bremner,  of  Wick,  places  his  paddle-wheels 
within  what  may  be  considered  a  double  boat.  Remington, 
of  Warkworth,  boldly  proposes  the  use  of  steam,  and  Cory- 
ton  of  atmospheric  air,  as  a  moving  power.  The  time  may 
come  when  steam  may  be  so  under  control  as  to  be  made  ' 
directly  applicable  to  a  life-boat  (and  in  the  form  of  a  steam- 
tug  it  is  already  of  great  use,  and  might  be  much  more  used 
with  advantage),  but  for  the  present  we  do  not  feel  that  we 
should  be  warranted  in  recommending  any  other  propeller 
than  oars.  With  respect  to  manual  labour  applied  to 
cranks  for  moving  paddles,  no  proof  has  yet  been  adduced 
that  sufficient  power  or  speed  can  be  obtained  by  means  of 
it;  paddle-wheels  would  fail  also  in  turning  the  boat  quickly, 
or  in  a  short  space. 

The  group  of  models  representing  pontoons,  rafts,  or 
catamarans,  comprises  a  numerous  body.  Russell  and 
Oswald,  of  Douglas,  Isle  of  Man ;  Dockar,  of  Banff ;  the 
Hon.  and  Rev.  A.  Perceval,  of  Brookham;  Gale  of  Hull, 
and  others,  have  shown  ingenuity  in  their  models,  but  they 
cannot  be  made  applicable  to  the  purposes  of  a  life-boat 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  437 

when  required  to  pull  off  a  lee  shore  in  a  gale  of  wind. 
Catamarans  are  much  used  at  Bahia,  and  at  other  places  on 
the  coast  of  Brazil,  and  it  is  known  that  they  remain  at  sea 
in  stormy  weather;  but  that  is  a  very  different  thing  from 
being  so  much  under  control  as  to  be  enabled  to  approach 
a  wreck.  The  real  use  of  a  raft  is  that,  at  the  last  extremity, 
and  when  all  boats  are  stove,  it  can  be  formed  out  of  the 
spars  on  board  the  stranded  vessel,  and  thus  afford  the  crew 
a  means  of  escape  by  driving  ashore  before  the  wind  and 
sea;  and  every  sailor  should  make  himself  familiar  with  the 
simple  plans  proposed  by  Captain  Bullock,  B.  N.,  and  others, 
for  readily  forming  such  a  raft  in  time  of  need. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  touch  further  on  the  peculiar  features 
of  the  several  models  sent  to  the  Exhibition,  but  we  must 
invite  your  particular  attention  to  a  model  and  drawing  of 
a  life-boat,  designed  by  Mr.  Peake,  assistant  master  ship¬ 
wright  in  Her  Majesty’s  Dockyard  at  Woolwich,  and  by 
permission  of  the  Admiralty,  built  in  that  yard,  under  his 
superintendence.  This  boat  appears  to  combine  most  of  the 
requisite  qualities  of  a  life-boat.  She  has  buoyancy,  sta¬ 
bility,  power  of  self-righting,  of  freeing  herself  of  water, 
and  capacity  for  carrying  a  rescued  crew,  and  there  is  little 
doubt  but  that  she  will  prove  an  efficient  boat. 

One  concluding  remark  on  this  part  of  the  subject  we 
may  be  allowed  to  add,  namely,  the  satisfaction  that  we 
have  derived  from  witnessing  the  number  of  models  sent  in 
by  men  who  are  earning  their  daily  bread  as  working  ship¬ 
wrights  or  boat-builders  in  the  various  private  and  public 
dockyards  in  different  parts  of  the  kingdom,  as  it  affords 
additional  evidence  that  many  of  the  Avorking  class  are 
thinking  men,  and  it  evinces  a  desire  to  improve,  which  is 
highly  creditable  to  them. 

The  essential  points  for  a  life-boat  may  be  gathered  from 
the  few  remarks  that  have  been  already  made  in  noticing 
the  several  boats;  but  having  had  the  advantage  of  examin¬ 
ing  all  the  different  models  sent  to  the  Exhibition,  it  may 
be  useful,  in  a  point  of  so  much  importance,  to  state  the 
conclusions  arrived  at  on  the  several  points  of  form,  dimen¬ 
sions,  material,  internal  fittings,  &c. ;  and  this,  I  believe, 
will  be  in  accordance  with  the  suggestions  of  His  ldoyal 


438 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE  : 


Highness  that  these  Lectures  should,  as  far  as  may  be,  in¬ 
dicate  the  path  for  onward  progress  rather  than  refer  to 
special  excellencies,  or  pass  in  review  the  varied  objects  in 
the  Exhibition. 


Form. 

The  form  best  adapted  for  the  general  purposes  of  a  life¬ 
boat  is  that  usually  given  to  a  whale-boat,  that  is,  both  ends 
alike,  but  with  more  breadth  of  beam  ;  fine  lines  to  enable 
the  boat  to  pull  well,  but  sufficient  fulness  forward  to  give 
buoyancy  for  launching  through  a  surf;  good  cheer  of  gun¬ 
wale,  say  an  inch  for  each  foot  of  length,  but  rounded  off 
towards  the  extremes;  a  long  flat  floor;  sides  straight  in 
the  fore-and-aft  direction ;  the  gunwale  strake  in  the  mid¬ 
ships  to  tumble  home  slightly  to  protect  the  thole-pins,  and 
the  bow  strake  to  flare  out  slightly  to  throw  the  sea  off;  as 
much  camber  or  curvature  of  keel  as  can  be  combined  with 
steady  steering,  and  safe  launching  from  a  beach,  in  order 
that  the  boat  may  be  turned  quickly  to  meet  a  heavy  roller 
when  about  to  break  on  her  broadside. 

Dimensions. 

In  point  of  length  life-boats  may  be  conveniently  divided 
into  three  classes — from  20  to  25  feet,  from  25  to  30  feet, 
and  from  30  to  30  feet;  which  last  may  be  considered  the 
maximum,  and  a  length  rarely  required.  The  smaller-sized 
boat  is  handy  on  those  parts  of  the  coast  where  it  is  difficult 
to  find  a  crew,  a  difficulty  that  would  be  found  to  extend 
to  a’ great  part  of  the  shores  of  this  kingdom.  Such  a  boat 
would  be  easily  transported  along-shore,  easily  launched, 
and  readily  manned,  and,  except  in  some  special  cases, 
would  generally  bring  on  shore  the  whole  of  the  crew  of  a 
stranded  vessel;  and  as  the  boat’s  crew  need  not  consist 
of  more  than  six  men,  there  would,  in  case  of  an  accident 
occurring,  be  fewer  lives  perilled.  The  two  boats  already 
alluded  to  as  built  by  Plenty,  one  on  the  coast  of  Devon, 
and  the  other  on  the  coast  of  Lincolnshire,  are  respectively 
18  and  24-fcet  boats,  and  they  have  saved  120  lives  within 
the  last  few  years. 

The  medium,  or  30-feet  boat,  to  pull  ten  oars  double- 


SHIPS.  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  489 

banked,  is  probably  the  best  adapted  for  the  general  pur¬ 
poses  of  a  life-boat  at  all  places  where  a  sufficient  crew  can 
be  readily  found  to  man  her.  Such  boats  are  in  use  at 
Liverpool,  Shields,  Dundee,  and  other  large  ports,  where 
no  difficulty  is  experienced  in  finding  a  crew,  and  on  a 
special  occasion,  at  Liverpool,  one  is  said  to  have  brought 
on  shore  60  persons.  At  less  populous  places  along  the 
coast  a  25-feet  boat  would  be  found  more  easily  manage¬ 
able  in  point  of  crew. 

The  maximum,  or  36-feet  boat,  is  adapted  for  such  places 
as  Yarmouth,  Lowestoft,  Deal,  &c.,  where  it  is  the  invaria¬ 
ble  custom  to  go  off  under  sail,  and  where  there  is  never  a 
difficulty  in  finding  beachmen  to  launch  or  man  the  boats, 
however  large.  The  wrecks  at  Yarmouth  and  Deal  occur 
generally  on  outlying  sands,  and  the  boat  that  happens  to 
be  to  windward  on  the  coast,  according  to  the  direction  oi 
the  wind,  goes  off  under  canvass  to  the  wreck.  Thus, 
should  a  wreck  occur  on  the  Yarmouth  sands  in  a  south¬ 
east  gale,  the  Pakefield  or  Lowestoft  boat  would  push  oft, 
while  in  a  north-east  gale,  the  Caistor  or  Corton  boat  would 
put  to  sea.  The  boats  actually  in  use  at  these  places  are 
from  40  to  45  feet  long ;  they  weigh  from  four  to  five  tons, 
and  cost  from  200/.  to  250/.  each.  They,  therefore,  form 
the  exception  to  the  general  rule ;  but  they  arc  powerful 
boats,  are  admirably  manned  and  handled,  and  have  been 
the  means  of  saving  some  300  lives  within  the  last  thirty 
years. 

With  respect  to  breadth  of  beam,  in  a  rapid  tideway,  as 
the  Tay,  the  Humber,  the  Bristol  Channel,  the  shores  of 
the  Isle  of  Man,  the  Shannon,  &c.,  a  boat  somewhat  of  the 
galley  form,  but  with  ends  like  a  whale-boat,  would  be  more 
suitable  than  a  wider  boat.  In  these  exceptional  cases  the 
breadth  of  beam  might  be  one-fourth  the  length ;  but  for  a 
life-boat,  where  the  requirements  are,  roominess  for  passen¬ 
gers,  width  to  pull  double-banked,  stability  to  resist  people 
moving  about,  and  occasionally  pressing  down  on  one  side 
in  rescuing  a  man  from  the  water,  it  should  never  be  less 
than  one-fourth.  The  Tyne  boats  have  a  breadth  of  fully 
one-third  the  length,  and  some  more,  but  such  would  not 
seem  to  be  the  best  proportions;  probably  as  1  to  3.8,  or  8 


440 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE  : 


feet  of  beam  to  a  length  of  30  feet,  would  best  suit  tha 
general  purposes  of  a  life-boat. 

As  to  depth,  it  seems  only  necessary  to  observe,  that  a 
boat  that  has  to  be  launched  through  the  surf  on  a  beach 
should  not  be  too  shallow  in  the  waist.  The  well-known 
Masulah,  or  surf-boats,  at  Madras,  have  sides  8  feet  deep. 
This  height,  however,  would  not  suit  a  boat  that  has  to 
pull  off  a  lee-shore  against  a  gale  of  wind,  where  the  less 
surface  exposed  the  better.  As  a  general  rule,  the  free¬ 
board,  or  height  of  gunwale,  from  the  surface  of  the  water, 
with  crew  and  gear  on  board,  should  not  be  less  than  from 
22  to  24  inches. 

The  weight  suitable  to  a  life-boat  does  not  seem  to  have 
received  much  consideration  from  our  builders,  to  judge 
from  the  difference  in  existing  boats.  Those  at  Holy 
Island,  at  Yarmouth,  and  Southwold,  as  before  mentioned, 
with  their  gear,  weigh  about  five  tons,  whereas  many  of  the 
models  sent  to  the  Exhibition  were  said  to  weigh  less  than 
half  a  ton.  The  mean  between  these  two  extremes  will  be 
near  the  truth.  For  however  desirable  lightness  is  for 
transport  along  a  beach,  a  certain  weight  of  boat  is  necessary 
to  resist  the  force  of  the  waves  and  to  retain  momentum,  so 
as  not  to  risk  being  driven  back  by  the  sea;  under  which 
consideration  1  cwt.  or  II  cwt.  for  each  foot  of  length  would 
be  a  fair  general  rule.  The  weight  of  gear  would  vary  from 
5  cwt.  to  15  cwt.  according  as  it  comprises  oars,  masts,  sails, 
anchor,  cable,  warps,  &c. 

Whatever  be  the  length  of  the  boat,  care  should  be  taken 
that  the  space  between  the  thwarts  should  not  be  less  than 
from  28  to  30  inches,  as  in  pulling  in  a  seaway  it  is  im¬ 
practicable  always  to  keep  stroke;  and  if  the  thwarts  are 
too  close,  the  loom  of  one  man’s  oar  is  liable  to  strike  the 
back  of  the  man  abaft  him.  This  is  a  common  complaint 
in  life-boats.  The  oars  should  be  short  to  pull  double- 
banked,  and  of  fir,  as  being  lighter,  more  buoyant,  and 
stiffer  than  ash,  which  is  too  pliant.  They  should  pull 
with  iron  thole-pins  having  rope  grummets  secured  to  them, 
and  the  pins  should  be  so  placed  that  the  boat  may  be 
pulled  cither  way,  by  the  men  merely  turning  round  on  the 
thwarts. 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIEE-BOATS.  441 
Materials. 

Hitherto  all  our  boats  have  been  of  wood,  but  the  testi¬ 
monials  in  favour  of  metal  boats  are  very  strong.  Galva¬ 
nized  iron  (if  that  process  prevents  oxidization  and  the 
action  of  sulphur  from  coal  smoke,  which  does  not  yet  seem 
to  be  established)  would  he  the  most  economical,  and  the 
corrugated  form  of  it  would  give  strength.  But  if  metal 
boats  be  adopted,  copper  might  be  preferred  as  more  dura¬ 
ble  and  more  tractable.  The  boats  in  which  Lieut.  Lynch, 
of  the  United  States  navy,  descended  the  rapids  of  the 
river  Jordan  in  1848,  were  of  copper,  and  that  officer  re¬ 
ports  most  favourably  of  them.  It  is  said  that  a  copper 
boat  is  now  supplied  to  every  vessel  in  the  United  States 
revenue  service,  if  not  to  the  navy  at  large.  The  first 
cost  of  such  boats  would  be  heavy,  but  the  material  would 
always  be  of  value.  In  metal  boats  it  is  affirmed  that  the 
air-tight  cases  could  be  more  easily  built  into  the  boat  (if 
in  any  case  such  were  admissible),  and  kept  from  leaking. 
About  one-tenth  of  the  whole  of  the  models  sent  to  the 
Exhibition  were  of  iron.  I  am  far  from  advocating  the 
adoption  of  metal  boats  as  life-boats,  but  I  would  not  ob¬ 
ject  to  a  fair  and  full  trial  of  them  at  any  convenient  op¬ 
portunity. 

In  the  construction  of  wood  boats,  well-seasoned  Scotch 
larch,  from  its  durability  and  lightness  (its  specific  gravity 
being  little  more  than  double  that  of  cork),  would  be  found 
the  best  material,  but  neither  Polish  nor  Italian  larch  should 
be  trusted  to.  American  white  cedar  is  both  light  and  du¬ 
rable.  One  advantage  in  having  wood  boats  is,  that  we 
should  have  the  benefit  of  the  skill  of  the  numerous  boat- 
builders  around  the  coasts,  whereas  the  building  of  metal 
boats  is  confined  to  a  few  hands ;  and  there  is  an  advantage 
in  having  a  boat  built  by  an  experienced  man,  who  designs 
and  executes  his  own  work. 

Of  gutta-percha,  caoutchouc,  kamptulicon,  and  other 
similar  materials,  we  have  no  experience  that  can  be  relied 
on.  A  gutta-percha  boat  was  taken  out  to  the  Arctic  re¬ 
gions  last  spring,  but  the  time  of  trial  was  too  short  for 
any  decisive  opinion  to  be  formed  on  its  merits.  It  is  stated 
that  the  material  shrinks,  and  it  certainly  will  not  bear  a 


442 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE  : 


continued  chafe;  nor  do  we  know  the  effect  of  heat  and 
cold  upon  it.  It  is,  however,  quite  possible  that  some  of 
these  materials  may  prove  useful  in  the  internal  fittings  of 
a  life-boat.  A  combination  of  gutta-percha  and  cork,  by 
Clarkson,  of  the  Strand,  and  another,  consisting  of  gutta¬ 
percha  between  two  layers  of  thin  wood,  by  Mr.  Forster,  R. 
N.,  may  perhaps  be  well  adapted  for  air-cases.  A  notion 
seems  prevalent  that  gutta-percha  is  very  light,  but  its  spe¬ 
cific  gravity  is  little  less  than  that  of  water,  or,  in  other 
words,  it  will  hardly  float.  Jeffery’s  marine  glue  may  also 
be  found  useful  in  the  internal  fittings  of  a  boat,  in  joining 
cork,  &c. 

Extra  Buoyancy. 

Extra  buoyancy,  or  that  required  beyond  what  the  mate¬ 
rials  used  in  the  construction  of  the  boat  will  afford,  is  the 
characteristic  feature  of  a  life-boat,  and  as  such  its  nature, 
amount,  and  distribution,  deserve  the  most  deliberate  con¬ 
sideration.  If  sufficient  buoyancy  can  be  obtained  by 
cork,  it  is  far  preferable  to  air-cases,  as  not  being  liable  to 
accident.  As  before-mentioned,  there  seems  reason  to  be¬ 
lieve  that  a  portion  of  cork  may  be  used  under  the  flat  or 
floor  of  the  boat,  so  as  to  reduce  the  internal  capacity,  and 
enable  the  boat  to  free  herself  of  water.  The  only  doubt 
is  as  to  its  weight;  but  cork  varies  considerably  in  weight 
as  well  as  in  price;  the  commonest  description  of  cork,  such 
as  used  by  fishermen  as  floats  for  their  in-shore  nets,  does 
not  exceed  121bs.  weight  per  cubic  foot,  and  costs  about 
12s.  a  cwt. ;  a  heavier  sort  weighs  about  151bs.  per  cubic 
foot.  These  might  be  advantageously  disposed  in  the  bottom 
of  a  boat,  covered  with  gutta-percha,  or  a  light  casing,  to 
keep  the  water  out  of  it,  and  the  boat  might  then  bid  defi¬ 
ance  to  accidents,  as  thus  armed,  even  if  bilged  against  a 
rock,  she  would  float. 

With  respect  to  air:  the  great  difficulty  of  rendering  ves¬ 
sels  permanently  air  or  water-tight,  makes  them  unfit  for 
general  use,  unless  great  care  and  watchfulness  be  exercised. 
In  those  instances  in  which  the  air-cases  are  built  into 
and  form  part  of  the  boats,  it  seems  doubtful  whether  any 
of  them  can  be  depended  upon  for  a  year;  and  from  various 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIEE-BOATS.  443 

inquiries  that  have  been  instituted,  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  there  does  not  exist  at  this  moment  a  complete  air  or 
water-tight  case  (undetached)  in  any  life-boat  that  has  been 
six  months  in  use  around  the  coasts  of  Great  Britain.  As 
to  air-cases  that  are  detached,  they  may  be  better;  but 
unless  in  the  form  of  small  casks,  as  in  the  Liverpool  boats, 
there  seems  sufficient  reason  to  suspect  them  all.  Metal 
air-cases  offer  rather  a  more  reasonable  prospect  of  security ; 
but  when  a  life-boat  was  laid  open  in  Woolwich  Dockyard 
a  few  years  since,  it  was  found  that  from  corrosion  there 
were  several  holes  half  an  inch  in  diameter  in  the  copper 
tubes,  supposed  to  have  been  air-tight;  in  fact  copper,  like 
other  metals,  is  liable  to  corrode,  and  the  more  so  when 
placed  in  conjunction  with  sea-water.  The  weight,  too,  of 
copper  tubes  makes  them  objectionable.  It  has  been  the 
practice  of  Teasdel,  an  experienced  life-boat  builder  at 
Great  Yarmouth,  to  build  his  detached  air-cases  of  thin 
boards  of  willow  wood,  which  is  both  tough  and  light,  and 
to  cover  them  with  painted  canvass,  and  this  we  believe  to 
be  the  best;  or  a  sheet  of  gutta-percha  between  two  thin 
boards  might  be  adopted,  according  to  Forster’s  process. 

Tbe  amount  of  extra  buoyancy  may  be  much  less  than  it 
has  hitherto  been  customary  to  give  in  a  life-boat..  The 
cubical  contents  of  the  air-cases  of  many  existing  life-boats, 
and  of  a  great  part  of  the  models  sent  to  the  Exhibition, 
measure  from  200  to  300  feet,  equivalent  to  the  support  of 
from  six  to  nine  tons  of  dead  weight.  Now,  if  only  intended 
for  buoyancy  to  balance  the  extra  weight  likely  to  be  put 
into  a  life-boat,  this  amount  is  unnecessary.  The  Liverpool 
life-boat,  already  alluded  to  as  having  on  one  occasion  brought 
on  shore  sixty  persons  from  a  wreck,  had  not  above  60  cubic 
feet  of  extra  buoyancy;  this  is  too  little,  but  in  a  30-feet 
boat,  provided  with  ample  delivering  valves,  100  cubic  feet, 
or  the  equivalent  of  three  tons,  is  sufficient  extra  buoyancy 
for  all  general  purposes. 

The  distribution  of  the  extra  buoyancy  requires  great 
care.  As  a  general  rule,  it  should  be  placed  high  in  the 
boat,  so  as  not  to  affect  her  stability ;  but  circumstances  re¬ 
quire  this  rule  to  be  slightly  modified.  In  order  to  reduce 
the  internal  capacity  of  the  boat  that  she  may  rise  under 


444 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE: 


the  weight  of  a  heavy  sea  that  may  fall  on  board,  and  to 
enable  the  delivering  valves  to  act  freely,  a  certain  amount 
of  space  should  be  occupied  under  the  flat  or  floor  of  the 
boat,  so  as  to  exclude  the  water;  and  the  question  is,  so  to 
fill  this  space  with  a  material  of  less  specific  gravity  than 
water,  yet  sufficiently  heavy  to  insure  the  boat’s  stability 
when  the  flat  or  flooring  is  laid  at  from  10  to  12  inches 
above  the  keelson,  or  about  the  water-line  of  intended  im¬ 
mersion  ;  thus  acting  generally  as  ballast,  but  on  emergency 
as  extra  buoyancy.  From  the  various  plans  adopted,  this 
would  seem  the  most  difficult  problem  to  solve  in  the  whole 
arrangements  of  a  life-boat.  In  some  existing  life-boats, 
and  in  many  of  the  models  sent  in,  reduction  of  internal 
capacity  is  attempted  by  placing  a  tight  deck  fore  and  aft 
at  from  16  to  18  inches,  and  even  in  some  at  24  inches, 
above  the  keelson,  with  only  air  beneath ;  the  result  is,  that 
the  weights  in  the  boat  raise  her  centre  of  gravity,  and  there 
is  a  risk  of  her  upsetting  when  a  sea  is  shipped.  Some  of 
the  models  thus  fitted,  on  being  tested  as  to  their  stability, 
went  over  directly.  Other  builders,  foreseeing  this  result, 
added  an  iron  keel  to  their  boats;  while  some  inserted  a 
well  or  tank  amidships  for  water  ballast,  which,  as  long  as 
it  remains  in  its  place,  compensates  for  the  amount  of  air 
under  the  flat,  and  restores  the  equilibrium.  Others  have 
tried  a  combination  of  cork  and  air,  alternately  distributed, 
so  as  to  preserve  the  requisite  stability  of  the  boat.  But 
although  conceding  full  merit  to  water-ballast,  which  has 
the  advantage  of  being  taken  in  only  when  the  boat  is  afloat, 
and  thus  leaving  her  light  for  transport  alongshore,  we  are 
of  opinion,  as  before  stated,  that  a  portion  of  cork  is  better, 
and  that  it  may  be  placed  in  a  water-tight  case,  or  in  a 
gutta-percha  covering  under  the  deck,  up  to  about  12  inches 
in  height  above  the  keelson,  and  combine  the  properties  of 
ballast  generally  with  extra  buoyancy  in  case  of  need ;  if 
above  all  a  light  water-tight  deck  be  placed,  the  cork  will 
be  preserved,  and  very  little  water  will  remain  to  incon¬ 
venience  the  crew  or  passengers. 

The  next  point  to  attend  to  in  the  distribution  of  the  ex¬ 
tra  buoyancy  is  to  place  the  requisite  amount  of  air-vessels 
in  the  head  and  stern  sheets  of  the  boat,  from  the  floor  up 
to  gunwale  height,  in  order  to  give  self-righting  power,  al- 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  445 

ways  taking  care  to  leave  access  to  within  three  and  a  half 
or  four  feet  of  the  stem  and  stern-post,  to  enable  a  man  to 
stand  there  and  receive  people  from  the  wreck,  as  it  com¬ 
monly  occurs  that  a  boat  cannot  go  alongside  a  stranded 
vessel,  but  has  to  receive  the  rescued  men  either  over  the 
head  or  stern  of  the  boat.  Air-cases  should  also  be  placed 
along  the  sides  of  the  boat  fore  and  aft,  under  the  thwarts, 
not  for  their  value  as  extra  buoyancy,  but  to  diminish  the 
internal  capacity,  and  to  keep  the  water  that  may  be  shipped 
away  from  the  sides  of  the  boat,  and  to  lead  it  direct  to  the 
delivering  tubes.  In  all  cases  in  which  air-cases  are  used, 
it  is  recommended  that  they  be  not  built  into  the  boat,  but 
be  detached,  so  that  they  may  be  examined  to  test  if  they 
are  water-tight,  there  being  great  reason  to  fear  that  such 
is  not  the  case  in  general,  and  air-cases  built  into  the  sides 
are  liable  to  open  with  the  working  of  the  boat,  or  to  be 
stove  in  going  alongside  a  wreck,  as  in  a  recent  instance, 
and  thus  a  boat  would  be  disabled.  They  should  also  have 
valves  inserted  in  them,  as  sooner  or  later  they  are  sure  to 
leak )  the  valves,  too,  would  enable  the  cases  to  be  aired, 
and  thus  preserve  them  better.  Wells’  disc  valve  is  the 
best  we  have  seen  for  the  purpose. 

Internal  Capacity  for  Holding  Water. 

The  more  the  internal  capacity  is  reduced  consistently 
with  leaving  space  for  a  rescued  crew,  the  better  the  life¬ 
boat.  If  practicable,  the  internal  capacity  for  holding  water 
up  to  the  level  of  the  thwarts  of  a  boat  thirty  feet  long 
should  not  exceed  three  tons.  It  may  be  diminished  by 
side  air-cases  from  the  thwarts  to  the  floor,  or  by  air-cases 
under  the  thwarts.  On  this  latter  mode  of  reducing  capa¬ 
city  there  is  a  difference  of  opinion,  some  contending  that 
it  is  an  advantage  to  break  up  a  sea,  and  prevent  the  water 
rushing  fore  and  aft  the  boat,  while  others  think  that  it  is  bet¬ 
ter  to  let  the  sea  have  a  fair  range,  and  that  then  much  of  the 
water  that  comes  in  over  the  bows  would  go  out  over  the 
stern.  The  balance  seems  rather  in  favour  of  filling  up 
under  the  thwarts ;  it  has  the  certain  advantage  of  reducing 
capacity. 

38 


446 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE  : 


Means  of  Freeing  the  Boat  of  Water. 

In  order  to  efficiency,  every  life-boat  should  be  provided 
with  the  means  of  freeing  herself  rapidly  of  any  water  she 
may  ship.  This  would  seem  a  self-evident  proposition;  but 
it  appears  not  to  be  admitted  as  such  by  the  designers  of 
many  of  the  models,  as  in  them  no  provision  is  made  for  it 
beyond  a  bucket  for  baling.  Not  to  multiply  proofs  of  the 
necessity  for  such  an  arrangement,  it  is  sufficient  to  cite,  as 
decisive  on  the  point,  the  recent  instance  of  the  Liverpool 
life-boat,  in  October  1850,  having  been  obliged  to  cut  her 
tow-rope,  and  bear  up  for  the  Mersey,  in  consequence  of 
having  shipped  a  succession  of  seas.  If  a  boat  has  large 
internal  capacity,  say  from  six  to  seven  tons,  which  is  not 
unusual  in  the  Yarmouth  boats,  and  she  ships  a  heavy  sea, 
or  a  succession  of  seas,  or  if,  as  is  commonly  the  case,  while 
under  storm-sails  the  crew  pull  out  their  plugs,  and  let  the 
boat  fill  up  to  her  water-line  for  ballast,  should  a  sudden 
squall  carry  away  her  masts,  how  is  that  weight,  in  addition 
to  the  weight  of  the  boat,  to  be  propelled  by  twelve  oars 
against  a  heavy  sea  ?  it  would  be  impracticable,  and  the 
relief  of  the  wrecked  vessel  must,  in  such  a  case,  be  aban¬ 
doned. 

By  means  of  sufficient  delivering-valves  or  tubes,  led 
through  a  platform  or  flat  laid  a  little  above  the  level  of 
the  water-line,  there  seems  no  reason  why  the  water  when 
shipped  should  not  be  carried  off  rapidly.  The  area  of  the 
valves  or  tubes  should  be  not  less  than  one  square  inch  for 
each  cubic  foot  of  capacity ;  more  would  be  better.  A 
question  may  arise  whether  it  is  better  that  the  boat  should 
free  herself  by  tubes  through  the  bottom,  or  by  scuppers  in 
the  sides  as  shown  in  several  of  the  models;  the  former  is 
the  more  direct  and  quickest  action,  but  the  tubes  are  liable 
to  be  choked  in  the  possible  case  of  a  boat  grounding  on  an 
outlying  sand-bank,  or  on  the  bar  of  a  river  harbour ;  it 
will  be  better,  therefore,  to  be  provided  with  both  to  meet 
such  an  accident.  The  tubes  and  scuppers  should  be  closed 
by  self-acting  valves;  a  modification  of  an  apparatus  known 
as  Kingston’s  valve  might  answer  the  purpose,  or  still  bet¬ 
ter,  a  valve  proposed  by  Mr.  George  Wells,  of  15  Upper 
East  Smithfield. 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  447 


Provision  for  Self-righting. 

The  power  of  self-righting  is  a  contested  point  among  the 
best  boat-builders  ;  but  they  seem  hardly  to  have  given  the 
subject  full  consideration.  The  accidents  that  have  hap¬ 
pened  to  life-boats  have  not  been  carefully  investigated,  and 
the  necessity  for  meeting  these  accidents  with  a  remedy  has 
not  forced  itself  upon  their  minds.  But  a  remedy  is  neces¬ 
sary.  Recent  and  sad  experience  has  shown  that  a  life-boat 
may  be  upset  and  may  drown  the  crew  from  want  of  being 
able  to  right  herself.  Had  the  South  Shields  life-boat  that 
upset  in  December  1849  possessed  the  means  of  self-righting, 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that  many  of  the  crew  might  have 
been  saved,  whereas  twenty  of  the  best  pilots  out  of  the 
Tyne  were  drowned.  This,  however,  is  not  the  only  instance 
of  a  boat  upsetting  and  remaining  bottom  up,  as  will  be 
seen  hereafter ;  but  it  is  sufficient  to  prove  the  absolute  ne¬ 
cessity  of  grappling  with  the  difficulty,  if  difficulty  it  be, 
and  of  overcoming  it.  Most  life-boats  have  good  sheer  of 
gunwale,  and,  consequently,  raised  extremities,  in  which 
air-cases  should  be  placed,  in  order  that  when  the  boat  is 
bottom  upwards,  their  buoyancy  may  co-operate  most  ef¬ 
fectually  with  the  weights  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat  (now 
raised,  it  may  be,  considerably  out  of  the  water)  to  restore 
her  to  her  originally  upright  position.  The  higher  the  centre 
of  gravity  of  a  vessel  or  boat  is  above  the  centre  ot  buoy¬ 
ancy,  c ceteris  paribus,  the  less  is  her  stability  j  and  by  the 
separation  of  these  two  centres,  a  condition  of  instability  will 
ensue,  the  effect  of  which  will  be,  that  with  the  slightest 
motion  the  boat  will  reverse  her  position,  or  right  herself. 
To  determine  the  necessary  extent  of  separation  of  these 
centres  in  each  case  involves  careful  calculation.  The  best 
mode  of  applying  this  principle  will  readily  occur  to  most 
boat-builders.  The  objections  to  the  raised  air-cases  at  each 
end  are  the  wind  they  hold  in  pulling  off  a  lee-shore,  and 
the  obstacle  to  approaching  the  stem  and  stern  of  the  boat ; 
the  latter  may  be  modified,  the  former  must  be  tolerated  for 
the  greater  benefit  in  another  respect  that  arises  from  their 
adoption.  If  aii’-cases  be  used  in  the  extremes,  a  layer  of 
cork  on  the  top  will  afford  great  protection  to  them,  and 


448 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE  : 


better  footing  for  the  crew  when  necessity  requires  them  to 
stand  or  jump  on  them. 

It  is  a  singular  fact, — and  it  serves  as  an  additional  proof 
of  the  want  of  some  systematic  record  of  discoveries  access¬ 
ible  to  all  persons,  which  I  have  already  had  occasion  to 
remark  upon  in  a  former  part  of  this  Lecture, — that  this 
property  of  self-righting,  which,  when  recently  proposed  as 
one  of  the  requisites  of  a  good  life-boat,  was  almost  treated 
with  derision  by  some  of  our  best  boat-builders,  should  have 
been  acknowledged  and  publicly  exhibited  at  Leith  by  the 
Lev.  James  Bremncr,  of  Walls,  Orkney,  as  far  back  as  Ju¬ 
ly  1800.  He  first  proposed  in  1792  to  enable  all  ordinary 
boats  to  self-right  by  placing  two  water-tight  casks  parallel 
to  each  other  in  the  head  and  stern  sheets,  and  by  attaching 
3  cwt.  of  iron  to  the  keel.  A  boat  thus  fitted  was  publicly 
tried  at  Leith  and  repeatedly  righted,  for  which  a  piece  of 
plate  was  awarded  to  Mr.  Bremner,  and  in  1810  the  Society 
of  Arts  voted  him  a  silver  medal  and  twenty  guineas.*  Yet 
in  1850,  half  a  century  later,  the  practicability  of  making  a 
boat  right  herself  was  almost  derided  ! 

Ballast. 

If  the  requisite  stability,  and  righting  power,  can  be  ob¬ 
tained  without  ballast,  it  is  very  desirable  to  avoid  the  en¬ 
cumbrance  it  causes,  in  case  of  having  to  transport  a  boat 
alongshore.  In  this  respect  water-ballast  has  a  great  advan¬ 
tage,  as  it  is  not  taken  in  until  the  boat  is  fairly  afloat,  and 
may  be  discharged  directly  she  again  touches  the  beach  on 
landing.  Water-ballast,  if  used  in  immediate  connexion  with 
so-called  water-tight  cases,  as  it  always  must  be,  requires 
very  good  workmanship  in  the  bulk-heads  or  partitions  of  the 
well,  in  order  that  they  may  not  become  leaky  by  straining 
when  at  sea,  or  by  shrinking  when  the  boat  stands  ashore, 
which  she  sometimes  does  for  a  year  together.  A  doubt 
may  arise,  too,  whether  a  boat  does  not  require  her  ballast 
as  much  or  more  at  the  moment  of  launching  than  at  any 
other  time;  lightness  has  its  advantages,  but  in  launching 
through  a  surf  a  boat  requires  a  certain  weight  so  as  not  to 

*  “Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Arts,”  vol.  xxviii.  p.  135. 


SniPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  449 

bo  readily  thrown  aside  by  a  breaking  sea.  All  these  cir¬ 
cumstances  considered,  we  incline  to  the  opinion  that  ballast 
given  by  cork  inside  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat  is  best  adapted 
to  meet  the  varied  contingencies  to  which  a  life-boat  is  sub¬ 
jected. 

Although  a  minor  point,  it  may  be  as  well  to  add,  that 
a  moderate-sized  cork  fender,  say  four  inches  in  diameter, 
should  be  carried  round  the  sides  and  both  ends  of  the  boat 
at  about  six  inches  under  the  gunwale  ;  but  there  is  no 
occasion  for  the  unwieldy  fender,  occasionally  12  inches  deep, 
that  may  be  seen  in  some  life-boats.  Holes  in  the  bilge 
pieces,  to  enable  a  man  to  lay  hold  of  them,  should  the  boat 
be  upset ;  timber  heads,  to  make  warps  fast  to  at  each  bow 
and  quarter ;  long  sweep  oars  for  steering  at  each  end ;  a 
stout  roller  in  the  stem  and  stern-post  to  receive  the  cable ; 
spare  oars,  one  for  each  two  that  the  boat  pulls ;  life-belts, 
life-buoys,  and  life-lines ;  hand-rockets,  heaving-lines,  and 
such  minor  fittings,  are  indispensable  in  every  life-boat. 

Transporting  Carriage. 

A  necessary  adjunct  to  a  life-boat  is  a  carriage  for  trans¬ 
porting  it  alongshore,  or,  when  the  tide  is  out,  for  carrying 
the  boat  down  to  the  water,  and  launching  it  without  risk 
into  the  sea.  The  building  a  good  carriage  is  a  problem 
not  easily  solved  :  among  the  many  models  of  carriages  sent 
to  the  Exhibition,  not  one  exactly  fulfils  the  conditions 
which  appear  essential.  The  carriage  should  combine  light¬ 
ness  with  strength,  to  carry  at  least  40  cwt.  in  case  of  need. 
The  boat  should  be  supported  as  near  the  ground  as  may 
be,  so  that  it  does  not  risk  striking  the  bottom  in  going  over 
a  rocky  beach  ;  the  wheels  should  be  of  large  diameter  for 
facility  in  moving,  with  broad  tires,  to  prevent  their  sinking 
into  the  sand.  The  subject  appearing  to  require  much  con¬ 
sideration,  combined  with  a  practical  knowledge  of  details, 
an  application  was  made  by  the  National  Shipwreck  Insti¬ 
tution  to  the  Master-General  and  the  Board  of  Ordnance, 
which  was  immediately  acceded  to,  and  directions  given  for 
a  carriage  to  be  built  in  the  Royal  Arsenal  at  Woolwich, 
where  it  is  now  in  course  of  construction,  under  the  super- 
38* 


450 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE: 


intendence  of  Colonel  Colquhoun,  R.  A.,  Director  of  the  Car¬ 
riage  Department  of  that  establishment. 

Accidents  to  Life-Boats. 

On  several  occasions  in  the  course  of  this  Lecture  allusions 
have  been  made  to  accidents  which  have  happened  to  life¬ 
boats,  as  illustrating  the  necessity  of  certain  qualities  in 
them,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  one  of  the  most  valu¬ 
able  aids  towards  the  improvement  of  our  boats  would  be  a 
detailed  account  of  all  such  disasters  that  from  time  to  time 
have  occurred.  The  following  cases  are  some  that  have 
been  gleaned,  and  they  are  mentioned  without  the  least 
intention  of  imputing  blame  to  any  party,  but  solely  with  a 
desire  to  find  a  remedy,  if  possible,  for  the  causes  of  the 
disasters  as  far  as  we  know  them.  They  are  as  follows  : — 

At  Hartley,  on  the  coast  of  Northumberland,  five  miles 
north  of  Tynemouth,  in  the  year  1810,  one  of  G-reathead’s 
life-boats,  carried  overland  from  Blyth,  rescued  the  crews 
of  several  fishing  cobles  that  wei’e  prevented  landing  by  a 
high  sea  tumbling  in  suddenly  upon  the  coast,  unaccom¬ 
panied  by  wind.  On  returning  towards  the  shore,  the  boat 
incautiously  got  too  near  the  South  Bush  Rock,  when  a 
heavy  sea  broke  on  board  and  split  her  in  halves;  the  result 
was,  that  the  whole  of  the  crew,  thirty-four  in  number, 
were  drowned. 

At  Shields,  about  the  year  1820,  Greathead’s  original 
life-boat,  in  taking  the  crew  out  of  the  ship  Grafton , 
stranded  on  Tynemouth  Rock  Heads  under  the  Spanish 
batter}7,  struck  upon  a  rock,  bilged,  and  swamped,  but  she 
nevertheless  remained  upright,  and  brought  both  crews 
safely  to  land.  This  boat  had  no  air-cases,  but  was  filled 
with  cork  inside  and  out. 

At  Sandy  Cove,  Kingstown,  Dublin  Bay,  in  December 
1822,  the  life-boat,  under  charge  of  Lieutenant  Hutchinson, 
R.N.,  went  off  to  the  assistance  of  the  brig  Ellen,  of  Liver¬ 
pool,  stranded  in  a  heavy  south-east  gale.  The  boat  had 
reached  the  wreck,  and  the  men  were  coming  dowm  over  the 
stern  into  her,  when  she  filled;  the  crew  attempted  to  bale 
the  water  out  with  their  hats,  when  another  sea  fell  on 
board,  washed  six  men,  and  all  the  oars,  and  everything 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  451 

out  of  the  boat,  which  drifted  ashore  among  the  rocks.  On 
this  occasion  four  men  were  drowned.  The  wreck  drove 
higher  up  the  beach  on  the  following  tide,  and  at  low  water 
the  crew  were  rescued. 

At  Lowestoft,  in  1825,  the  life-boat-  went  off  to  the  sloop 
Dorset,  wrecked  on  the  southern  part  of  the  Holm  Sand,  in 
a  south-east  gale  and  spring  ebb-tide,  which  caused  a  very 
heavy  sea  on  the  sand.  In  consequence  of  the  crew  not 
raising  the  plugs  of  the  delivering-valves  soon  enough,  the 
boat  tilled  with  water,  became  unmanageable,  and  part  of 
the  Dorset’s  crew  were  drowned.  The  boat,  however, 
although  floating  level  with  the  lower  part  of  the  gunwale, 
succeeded  in  reaching  the  shore  in  safety  with  the  re¬ 
mainder  of  the  crew  of  the  sloop. 

At  Winterton,  Norfolk,  about  the  year  1829,  the  life¬ 
boat  went  off  to  a  stranded  vessel,  the  Mariner ,  and  while 
lying  alongside  her,  the  flat  or  deck  of  the  boat  blew  up, 
the  boat  swamped,  and  the  men  saved  their  lives  by  taking 
refuge  on  board  the  vessel  they  went  to  aid.  The  life-boat 
was  of  the  form  of  a  steamer’s  paddle-box  boat ;  it  had 
what  wras  intended  to  be  an  air-tight  deck,  from  twelve  to 
fourteen  inches  above  the  keelson,  but  it  was  always  difficult 
to  keep  tight,  and  in  the  end,  as  before  stated,  was  forced 
up  by  the  water  beneath  it. 

At  Appledore,  Devon,  in  December  1833,  the  life-boat, 
in  going  off  to  the  brig  Mary  Anne,  of  Exeter,  stranded 
on  the  Northam  Burrows,  was  struck  by  a  heavy  sea,  and 
turned  end  over  end,  it  is  believed ;  two  of  the  crew  who 
had  lashed  themselves  to  the  thwarts  were  drowned,  a  third 
got  his  lashings  loose  enough  to  keep  his  head  above  water 
in  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  and  was  taken  out  alive  when 
the  boat  drove  on  shore,  bottom  up,  about  an  hour  after. 
On  this  occasion  three  men  were  drowned ;  the  remainder 
of  the  crew  were  taken  off  the  life-boat  by  another  boat. 
Had  this  boat  had  the  power  of  self-righting,  there  seems 
no  reason  why  the  men  should  not  have  been  saved. 

At  Scarborough,  in  1836,  the  life-boat  went  off  through 
the  breakers  to  the  rescue  of  a  vessel  j  as  the  boat  approached 
the  outside  of  the  broken  water,  a  heavy  overlap  of  the  sea 
caught  her  and  turned  her  end  over  end,  shutting  up  one 
of  the  crew  inside,  where  he  remained  in  safety,  getting 


452 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE  : 


fresh  air  through  the  tubes  in  the  bottom,  and  was  taken 
out  when  the  boat  drifted,  bottom  up,  on  the  beach.  Ten 
lives  were  lost.  This  boat  is  fitted  with  an  air-case  under 
her  flat,  contents  140  cubic  feet,  and  with  a  small  well  for 
water-ballast,  holding  about  16  cubic  feet,  or  half  a  ton. 

At  Blyth,  Northumberland,  in  October  1841,  the  life¬ 
boat  was  pulling  off  against  a  strong  wind,  when  a  heavy 
sea  struck  the  boat,  caused  her  to  run  stern  under,  and  to 
half  fill  with  water.  From  want  of  delivering-valves  the 
boat  could  not  free  herself ;  she  became  unmanageable,  and 
fell  off  the  wind,  when  a  second  sea  struck  her,  and  she 
capsized.  On  this  occasion  ten  men  were  drowned.  The 
boat  had  an  air-case  about  15  inches  deep  under  her  flat  or 
platform. 

At  Whitby,  in  October  1841,  the  life-boat  was  pulling 
off  in  a  strong  E.N.E.  gale  and  a  cross  sea,  to  carry  pro¬ 
visions  to  some  fishing-yawls  that  were  in  distress  for  food, 
when  a  heavy  sea  struck  the  boat  at  the  same  time  that  she 
was  caught  lay  a  heavy  fresh  running  out  of  the  harbour, 
and  she  capsized.  No  lives,  we  believe,  were  lost.  This 
boat  has  an  air-case  13  inches  deep  under  her  platform. 

At  Tynemouth  Haven,  in  1842,  the  life-boat  went  off 
on  trial  in  a  very  rolling  swell  from  the  north-eastward ; 
on  returning  towards  the  shore,  under  sail,  a  heavy  sea 
topped  on  her  quarter,  hove  her  over  on  her  beam  ends, 
and  filled  the  sail,  when  she  turned  bottom  up,  and  thus 
drove  ashore,  the  crew  being  taken  off  by  a  coble,  and  all 
saved. 

At  Robin  Flood’s  Bay,  on  the  coast  of  Yorkshire,  seven 
miles  south  of  Whitby,  in  February  1843,  the  life-boat  went 
off  to  the  assistance  of  a  stranded  vessel,  the  Ann,  of  Lon¬ 
don,  during  a  fresh  northerly  gale.  The  life-boat  had  got 
alongside  the  wreck,  and  was  taking  in  the  crew,  when,  it 
is  supposed,  four  or  five  men  jumped  into  her  at  once  on 
one  side,  when,  a  heavy  sea  striking  her  at  the  same  time, 
she  capsized.  Many  of  the  crew  got  on  her  bottom,  while 
three  remained  under,  and  in  this  state  she  was  drifted 
towards  the  shore  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  bay.  On  see¬ 
ing  the  accident  from  the  shore,  five  gallant  fellows  launched 
a  coble  (fitted  with  air-cases  as  a  life-boat),  and  tried  to  pull 
off  to  the  rescue  ;  but  she  had  hardly  encountered  two  seas, 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  453 


wlien  she  was  turned  end  over  end :  two  of  her  crew  were 
drowned,  and  she  drifted  ashore  bottom  up.  On  this  occa¬ 
sion  Lieut.  Lingard,  It.  N.,  of  the  Coast-guard  service,  and 
eleven  men,  lost  their  lives.  Three  men  came  on  shore 
safely  under  the  life-boat,  and  some  on  her  bottom,  the 
others  Avere  washed  off.  Had  the  life-boat  possessed  the 
poAver  of  self-righting,  there  seems  no  reason  why  most,  if 
not  all  the  men,  should  not  have  been  saATed. 

At  Bude,  in  Cornwall,  about  the  year  1844,  the  life-boat 
was  exercising,  Avhen  she  shipped  a  heavy  sea,  dipped  her 
quarter,  and  turned  end  over  end.  Two  men  Avere  drowned. 
This  boat  is  of  the  form  of  a  steamer’s  paddle-box  boat,  with 
air-cases  in  her  bottom  12  £  inches  deep  amidships,  contents 
105  cubic  feet ;  the  surface  of  the  flat  or  flooring  is  about 
on  a  level  with  the  water-line.  The  air-case  is  divided  into 
6atc  compartments,  but  at  the  time  of  the  accident  it  is  said 
that  the  after  compartment  was  not  tight,  and  consequently 
it  filled  with  water. 

At  Penrhyn  du,  Carnarvon,  in  the  year  1847,  the  life¬ 
boat  went  off  to  the  assistance  of  a  vessel  in  distress  ;  there 
was  a  heavy  cross  sea  on,  and  the  boat  was  upset,  or,  it  is 
said,  turned  end  over  end  :  the  crew  supported  themselves 
on  the  bottom  of  the  boat  for  some  time,  Avhen  they  made 
an  effort  to  right  her,  when  the  boat  rolled  right  around 
and  remained  on  her  face.  The  crew  supported  themsel\Tes 
until  taken  off  by  another  boat. 

At  South  Shields,  on  the  4th  December,  1849,  the  life¬ 
boat,  manned  with  twenty-four  pilots,  went  out  to  the  aid 
of  the  Betsy,  of  Littlehampton,  stranded  on  the  Herd  Sand; 
there  was  a  heavy  sea  from  the  eastward,  but  little  wind, 
and  a  strong  ebb-tide.  The  boat  had  reached  the  wreck, 
and  was  lying  alongside  with  her  head  to  the  eastward,  with 
a  rope  List  to  the  quarter,  but  the  bowfast  not  secured.  The 
shipwrecked  men  were  about  to  descend  into  the  life-boat 
when  a  hea\Ty  knot  of  sea  recoiling  from  the  boAv  of  the 
vessel,  caught  the  bow  of  the  boat  and  turned  her  up  on 
end,  throwing  the  Avhole  of  the  crew  and  the  water  into  the 
stern  sheets.  The  bowfast  not  holding,  the  boat  drove  in 
this  position,  astern  of  the  vessel,  Avhen  the  ebb-tide  running 
rapidly  into  her  stern,  the  boat  completely  turned  end  over 
end ,  and  Avent  on  shore  bottom  up.  On  this  occasion 


454 


ON  NAYAL  ARCHITECTURE  : 


twenty  out  of  twenty-four  (or  double  her  proper  crew)  were 
drowned  under  the  boat.  On  seeing  the  accident  two 
other  life-boats  immediately  dashed  off  from  North  and 
South  Shields,  saved  four  of  the  men,  and  rescued  the  crew 
of  the  Betsy. 

The  boat  to  which  this  sad  disaster  happened  is  34  foot 
long  over  all,  and  nearly  11  feet  breadth  of  beam.  It  is  of 
the  form  of  a  steamer’s  paddle-box  boat.,  or  nearly  of  the 
original  Greathead  form,  lias  30  inches  sheer  of  gunwale, 
and  11  inches  curvature  of  keel.  It  is  fitted  with  an  air- 
case  under  the  flat  or  deck  15  inches  in  height,  which  con¬ 
tains  224  cubic  feet  of  air,  with  a  well  for  water-ballast  in 
the  middle  holding  30  cubic  feet,  or  17  cwt.  when  full.  The 
surface  of  the  flat  or  deck  is  20  inches  above  the  underside 
of  the  keel;  and  the  boat  is  fitted  with  flat  top  air-cases 
around  the  sides.  The  boat  had  an  open  well  when  the 
accident  happened,  and  when  thrown  over  end  the  water- 
ballast  would  run  out  into  her  stern.  Had  she  possessed 
the  power  of  self-righting,  it  is  fair  to  suppose  some  of  the 
men  might  have  been  saved. 

It  is  but  justice  to  add,  and  it  is  a  fact  highly  honourable 
to  the  port,  that  the  life-boats  at  Shields  have  been  in  con¬ 
stant  use  since  Greathead  first  launched  his  boat  there  on 
the  30th  of  January,  1790,  now  sixty  years  since,  and,  with 
the  exception  of  the  above  accident,  it  is  stated  that  no  life 
has  ever  been  lost  in  them,  nor  any  life  been  lost  from  want 
of  them.  No  record  prior  to  1841  was  kept,  but  between 
the  years  1841  and  1849  no  less  than  4G6  persons  have 
been  brought  on  shore  from  stranded  vessels. 

At  Liverpool,  in  October  1850,  the  life-boat,  in  going 
out  to  the  ship  Providence,  in  tow  of  a  steam-tug,  in  a  very 
severe  gale  and  heavy  sea,  shipped  a  succession  of  seas, 
when  there  being  no  means  of  freeing  the  boat  except  bail¬ 
ing  by  buckets,  the  crew  cut  the  tow-rope,  and  ran  back  to 
the  Mersey.  This  appears  to  be  a  very  rare  occurrence,  as 
in  the  course  of  the  last  eleven  years  the  life-boats  at  Liver¬ 
pool  have  been  the  means  of  assisting  269  vessels,  and 
have  brought  on  shore  1128  persons,  affording  decisive 
proof  of  the  value  of  such  boats  when  well  manned  and 
properly  managed. 

At  Broadstairs,  on  the  6th  March,  1851,  the  life-boat 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  455 

gallantly  went  off  to  the  brig  Mary  White,  stranded  on  the 
Goodwin,  rescued  seven  of  the  crew  out  of  ten,  but,  unfor¬ 
tunately,  the  boat’s  gunwale  was  stove  while  lying  alongside 
the  wreck;  and  the  air-cases,  being  built  into  the  boat, 
filled  with  water  on  the  one  side ;  the  life-boat  thus  became 
disabled,  and  was  drifting  away  to  sea  when  it  was  picked 
up  by  a  lugger,  and  brought  on  shore.  These  instances 
are  all  that  have  come  to  my  knowledge ;  but  as  far  as  they 
go  they  are  instructive,  as  pointing  out  some  evils  which  it 
is  right  to  shun,  and  some  defects  which  require  remedies. 

Necessity  of  TrvAiNiNG. 

But  especially  do  they  enforce  a  point  which  is  of  essen¬ 
tial  importance,  namely,  the  absolute  necessity  of  a  well- 
trained  crew,  and  of  sailor-like  management  of  a  life-boat. 
All  the  best  qualities  combined  in  one  boat  will  not  com¬ 
pensate  for  want  of  seamanship  and  judgment  in  the  cox¬ 
swain  of  the  boat,  who  should  be  cool,  steady,  acquainted 
with  the  set  of  the  tides,  and  know  whether  it  is  right  to 
approach  a  wreck  end  on  with  his  boat  under  her  quarter, 
or  to  lay  her  alongside  under  the  lee,  or  to  drop  his  anchor 
to  windward  and  veer  down  to  the  wreck,  as  is  the  usual 
practice  with  the  Yarmouth  and  Beal  boats,  and  for  which 
purpose  every  life-boat  should  be  provided  with  a  heavy 
anchor  and  good  cable.  It  is  not  any  peculiarly  good 
quality  in  the  form  of  the  Yarmouth  and  Beal  luggers  that 
enables  them  to  brave  the  sea  in  all  weathers,  but  it  is  the 
admirable  manner  in  which  they  are  handled  by  their  hardy 
crews.  And  if  we  are  to  have  an  efficient  set  of  life-boats 
along  the  coasts  of  the  United  Kingdom,  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  that  fishermen  and  sailors  should  enrol  themselves 
as  crews  and  go  out  frequently  for  exercise  in  heavy  weather, 
so  as  to  become  familiarized  with  the  qualities  of  their 
boats,  and  to  know  exactly  what  they  will  do  in  the  hour 
of  need.  They  need  no  longer  have  a  misgiving  about  their 
safety.  That  a  thoroughly  good  life-boat  can  be  built  no 
longer  admits  of  a  doubt. ;  and  any  boat-builder  who  will 
construct  a  boat  after  the  lines  shown  iu  Plates  1  or  13  of 
the  Northumberland  Report,  may  rest  assured  that  he  will 
turn  out  a  boat  that,  if  properly’handled,  need  not  fear  to 
bee  any  weather  at  sea. 


456 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE  : 


Existing  means  tor  saving  Lire. 

In  a  former  part  of  this  Lecture  I  have  shown  that  681 
wrecks  occurred  in  the  year  1850,  and  that  780  lives  were 
lost  on  our  own  shores  ;  we  have  now  to  consider  the  extent 
of  the  existing  means  for  saving  life.  It  is  comprised  in 
the  following  meagre  statement In  Scotland,  with  a  sea¬ 
board  of  1500  miles,  there  arc  eight  life-boats;  at  St. 
Andrews,  the  Tay,  Arbroath,  Montrose,  Aberdeen,  Wick, 
Ardrossan,  and  Irvine ;  some  of  these  boats  are  in  tolerable 
repair,  that  at  Wick  is  quite  new,  others  are  quite  un¬ 
serviceable.  The  boats  at  Aberdeen,  Montrose,  and  St. 
Andrews,  have  been  the  means  of  saving  eighty-three  lives. 
There  are  Manby’s  mortars  at  ten  stations,  and  rockets  at 
eight  stations;  the  latter  have  been  instrumental  in  saving 
sixty-eight  lives.  Orkney  and  Shetland  are  without  any  pro¬ 
vision  for  saving  life,  and  with  the  exception  of  Port  Logan, 
in  Wigtonshire,  where  there  is  a  mortar,  the  whole  of  the 
west  coast  of  Scotland  from  Cape  Wrath  to  Solway  Firth 
(an  extent  of  900  miles,  without  including  the  islands),  is 
in  the  same  state. 

In  England  and  Wales,  with  a  seaboard  of  2000  miles, 
there  are  seventy-five  life-boats;  of  these  forty -five  are 
stationed  on  the  east  coast.  On  the  shores  of  Northum¬ 
berland,  from  Berwick-on-Tweed  to  the  Tyne,  there  arc 
seven  boats,  or  one  for  every  eight  miles ;  there  are  three 
at  Shields;  fifteen  on  the  coast  of  Durham  and  Yorkshire, 
or  one  for  every  ten  miles ;  in  Lincolnshire,  four  boats,  or 
one  for  every  fifteen  miles;  on  the  coasts  of  Norfolk  and 
Suffolk,  from  Cromer  to  Southwold,  there  are  ten  boats,  or 
one  for  every  five  miles;  a  fact  highly  creditable  to  the 
county  associations.  There  are  life-boats  also  at  Aldborough, 
Harwich,  Broadstairs,  and  Ramsgate. 

On  the  south  coast,  from  Dover  to  the  Land’s  End,  a 
distance  of  420  miles,  there  are  eight  life-boats,  but  none 
at  Penzance  where  most  needed.  At  the  Scilly  Isles  there 
is  one  inefficient  boat ;  the  same  at  St.  Ives  and  Bude ;  and 
one,  a  little  better,  at  Padstow.  So  that  from  Falmouth 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  457 

round  the  Land’s  End  by  Trevose  Head  to  Hartland  Point, 
an  extent  of  150  miles  of  the  most  exposed  coast  in  Eng¬ 
land,  there  is  not  a  really  efficient  life-boat.  In  the  Bristol 
Channel  the  North  Devon  Association  maintains  three  life¬ 
boats  in  Bideford  Bay.  There  is  a  new  life-boat  at  Ilfra¬ 
combe,  and  one  at  Burnham.  On  the  south  coast  of  Wales 
— from  Cardiff  round  to  Fishguard,  a  distance  of  200  miles 
— there  are  two  recently  placed  life-boats,  one  at  Llanelly, 
the  other  at  Tenby.  There  are  twelve  boats  on  the  west 
and  north  coasts  of  Wales,  some  in  a  very  defective  state; 
and  nine  in  good  order  at  five  stations  in  the  important  port 
of  Liverpool,  liberally  supported  by  the  Dock  Trustees,  and 
having  permanent  boats’  crews.  These  boats,  as  before 
mentioned,  have  brought  on  shore  1128  persons  during  the 
last  eleven  years,  thus  proving  the  value  of  life-boats  when 
kept  in  an  efficient  state  and  properly  managed.  In  all 
there  are  thirty  boats,  one-half  unserviceable,  to  supply  the 
wants  of  a  seaboard  900  miles  in  extent,  from  the  Land’s 
End  to  the  Solway,  including  the  ports  of  Liverpool  and 
Bristol. 

In  the  Isle  of  Man,  which,  from  its  position  near  the 
centre  of  the  Irish  Sea,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  great  part  of 
the  traffic  of  Liverpool  and  Belfast,  Glasgow  and  Dublin, 
has  its  shores  much  exposed  to  wrecks,  there  is  not  a  single 
life-boat.  The  four  boats  established  here  by  the  exertions 
ot  the  late  Sir  William  Hillary,  Bart. — a  name  honourably 
associated  with  that  of  Mr.  Thomas  Wilson,  formerly  M.P. 
for  the  City  of  London,  as  founders  of  the  National  Ship¬ 
wreck  Institution — have  been  allowed  to  fall  into  decay, 
and  hardly  a  vestige  of  them  remains. 

In  Ireland,  with  an  extent  of  1400  miles  of  coast,  there 
are  eight  life-boats,  and  they  are  inefficient.  Yet  there  is 
no  part  in  the  United  Kingdom  in  which  wrecks  are  more 
frequent  than  on  the  coast  of  Wexford;  and  when  we  con¬ 
sider  that,  in  addition  to  the  cross-Channel  trade,  the  whole 
of  the  foreign  trade  to  Liverpool,  and  Glasgow,  and  Belfast, 
passes  through  the  Irish  Sea,  the  frequency  of  wrecks  on 
the  east  coast  of  Ireland  need  not  create  surprise. 

39 


458 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE: 


Rockets  and  Mortars. 

From  official  returns,  it  appears  that  many  of  the  Coast¬ 
guard  stations  on  the  shores  of  England  and  Wales  are 
supplied  with  rockets  or  mortars,  at  the  expense  of  Govern¬ 
ment,  and  some  stations  have  both.  There  are  seveuty- 
three  stations  which  have  rockets,  thirty  which  have  mor¬ 
tars,  and  forty-one  which  have  both  mortars  and  rockets. 
At  first  sight  this  seems  a  fair  proportion,  and  so  it  would 
be  if  the  rockets  were  efficient ;  but  the  returns  go  on  to 
say,  at  twenty-four  stations  rockets  have  burst,  and  at  forty- 
two  stations  lines  have  broken.  In  some  instances  the 
rockets  were  old,  in  others  badly  made,  and  the  lines  in  the 
same  state.  Yet  even  with  these  drawbacks,  rockets  and 
mortars  have  proved  most  useful.  At  twenty -two  stations 
where  a  record  has  been  kept,  not  less  than  214  lives  have 
been  saved  by  them,  besides  several  crews  at  Caistor,  near 
Yarmouth,  and  many  lives  at  eight  other  stations,  where  no 
account  has  been  kept  of  the  number.  The  veteran  Cap¬ 
tain  Manby  may  reflect  with  just  gratification  in  his  de¬ 
clining  years  that  the  mortar  he  was  instrumental  in 
bringing  into  use  as  a  means  of  saving  life,  has  proved  very 
serviceable. 

There  are  twenty-five  stations  in  Ireland  at  which  there 
are  either  rockets  or  mortars ;  but  here,  as  elsewhere  on  the 
coasts,  lines  have  broken  and  rockets  have  burst ;  the 
rockets,  too,  might  be  better  distributed.  Yet,  notwith¬ 
standing  these  minor  evils,  which  may  be  set  right  without 
any  great  difficulty,  the  testimony  in  Ireland  as  well  as  in 
England  is  decisive  as  to  the  value  of  the  rocket  in  effecting 
communication  with  a  stranded  vessel,  and  thus  saving  life 
from  shipwreck. 

The  merit  of  the  first  suggestion  for  forming  a  connexion 
between  a  stranded  vessel  and  the  shore  by  means  of  a  mor¬ 
tar  is  unquestionably  due  to  Sergeant  J ohn  Bell,  afterwards 
Lieu.it.  Bell  of  the  Invalid  Artillery,  a  worthy  non-commis¬ 
sioned  officer,  at  the  siege  of  Gibraltar.  In  August  1791,  a 
public  trial  of  his  plan  was  made  at  Woolwich,  when  a  shell, 
loaded  to  weigh  seventy-five  pounds,  fired  from  a  mortar  on 
board  a  boat,  carried  out  150  yards  of  a  deep-sea  lead  line, 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  459 

by  means  of  which,  Bell,  with  another  man,  worked  .himself 
on  shore  on  a  raft  of  casks.  He  also  proposed  to  throw  a 
grapnel  fitted  to  be  fired  from  a  common  six-pounder  gun, 
for  the  same  purpose;  and  further  recommended  that  the 
mortar  apparatus  should  be  placed  at  all  ports,  as  Shields, 
&c.,  where  vessels  are  liable  to  ground  near  the  shore,  when 
a  line  might  be  thrown  over  the  ship,  and  thus  be  the  means 
of  saving  life.  The  Society  of  Arts  awarded  fifty  guineas 
for  this  invention ;  the  account  of  which  was  published  in 
1792,  in  the  tenth  volume  of  their  “  Transactions,”*  and  a 
further  description  and  engraving  in  1808;^  the  grapnel  and 
part  of  the  original  apparatus  may  now  be  seen  in  the  Re¬ 
pository  grounds  at  Woolwich.  But  the  credit  of  bringing 
the  mortar  into  effective  use  for  saving  life  around  our  coasts 
is  unquestionably  due  to  Captain  Manby,  as  above  stated, 
and  most  valuable  has  it  proved  to  be. 

For  the  first  use  of  the  rocket,  to  effect  a  communication 
with  a  stranded  ship,  we  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Henry  Tren- 
grouse,  of  Ilelstone,  Cornwall,  who  having  witnessed  the 
disastrous  wreck  of  the  Anson  in  1807,  on  Looe  Bar,  Mount’s 
Bay,  when  one  hundred  lives  were  lost,  proposed  the  use  of 
a  small  rocket,  with  a  line  attached,  to  be  fired  from  the 
ship  to  the  shore.  As  far  as  I  am  aware,  his  plan  was  never 
brought  into  use,  but  the  inventor  received  the  gold  medal 
of  the  Society  of  Arts,  and  fifty  guineas  premium  in  the 
year  1820. |  The  great  merit  of  Trengrouse’s  plan  was  the 
firing  from  the  ship  to  the  shore,  Avhich  undoubtedly  is  the 
better  mode,  if  vessels  can  be  induced  to  carry  the  necessary 
apparatus,  which  hitherto  has  not  been  the  case.  Sir  William 
Congreve,  it  is  understood,  proposed  a  somewhat  similar 
apparatus. 

But  the  merit  of  bringing:  into  use  the  rocket  to  carry  a 
line  from  the  shore  to  the  wreck,  undoubtedly  belongs  to 
Mr.  Dennett,  of  Newport,  Isle  of  Wight,  who*;  about  the 
year  1825,  proposed  the  adoption  of  a  nine-pounder  rocket 
for  this  purpose,  which  has  since  been  successfully  used  in 
many  parts  of  the  United  Kingdom.  In  1837,  Mr.  Carte, 
of  Hull,  recommended  the  use  of  a  twelve-pounder  rocket 

*  Page  203.  f  Vol.  xxv.  p.  135. 

1  Transactions,  vol.  xxxviii.  p.  168. 


460 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE: 


for  the  same  purpose,  which  is  now  placed  at  several  stations, 
particularly  on  the  coast  of  Yorkshire;  he  has  also  a  sea- 
service  apparatus  for  use  on  board  a  ship,  which  is  efficient, 
portable,  and  economical,  yet  our  ships  cannot  be  induced 
to  carry  it.  The  last  proposal  for  this  purpose  is  that  by 
M.  Delvigne  of  Paris,  a  model  of  which  was  in  the  Exhibi¬ 
tion.  His  proposal  is  to  ball  the  line  up  inside  a  wooden 
projectile,  and  to  fire  it  from  a  howitzer;  on  a  trial  during 
the  past  summer  in  Woolwich  Marshes,  he  succeeded  in 
throwing  a  line  400  yards,  we  believe,  from  a  five-inch 
howitzer,  with  a  charge  of  eight  ounces  of  powder.  It  is 
far  from  impossible  that  this  plan  of  projecting  a  line  may 
be  so  modified  as  to  be  rendered  very  serviceable. 

Fully  admitting  the  good  service  that  both  rocket  and 
mortar  have  rendered  in  their  present  state,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  rocket  and  line  may  be  greatly  improved. 
The  maximum  range  now  attained  with  Dennett’s  9-lbs.,  or 
Carte’s  12-lbs.  life-rocket  in  fine  weather  is  350  yards,  but 
in  stormy  weather,  such  as  that  in  which  wrecks  usually 
occur,  it  seldom  reaches  300  yards.  On  many  parts  of  the 
coast  such  a  limited  flight  would  not  reach  a  stranded  ves¬ 
sel  :  it  seems  desirable,  therefore,  to  make  every  effort  to  in¬ 
crease  the  range,  whether  by  an  improvement  in  the  rocket, 
or  by  substituting  a  lighter  line  of  Manilla  or  other  hemp; 
and,  considering  the  importance  of  the  object  and  its  inti¬ 
mate  connexion  with  the  life-boat,  we  may  be  permitted  to 
express  our  earnest  hope  that  the  experiments  on  this  sub¬ 
ject  which  it  is  understood  have  been  set  on  foot,  will  be 
continued  with  as  little  delay  as  possible  until  a  favourable 
result  is  obtained. 

\ 

Coast-Guard. 

In  looking  over  the  list  of  wrecks,  no  one  can  fail  to  be 
struck  at  the  prominent  position  occupied  by  the  officers  and 
men  of  the  Coast-guard  service  on  all  such  occasions.  The 
records  of  the  National  Shipwreck  Institution  show  that 
about  one-third  of  the  medals  and  rewards  granted  by  that 
Institution  for  meritorious  services  are  awarded  to  the 
Coast-guard.  Independently  of  their  other  services,  they 
have  proved  themselves  in  cases  of  wreck  to  be  an  invalua- 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  461 

ble  body  of  men;  they  are  familiar  with  the  use  of  the  mor¬ 
tar  and  the  rocket;  are  always  on  the  watch;  always  ready 
to  act ;  and  nothing  can  be  more  striking  on  such  occasions 
than  the  advantage  of  a  well-trained,  organized  body  acting 
as  one  man,  over  a  willing,  but  undisciplined,  assemblage  of 
sailors  and  fishermen.  On  any  future  occasion  of  shipwreck, 
we  may  trust  that  the  Coast-guard  officers  and  men  will  dis¬ 
play  the  same  energy  that  has  hitherto  so  honourably  dis¬ 
tinguished  them. 


Sea-Coroner  suggested. 

A  careful  examination  of  the  returns  of  wrecks  by  the 
Coast-guard  officers,  forcibly  impresses  on  the  mind  the 
painful  conviction  that  the  greater  part  of  the  casualties 
that  occur  are  not  occasioned  by  stress  of  weather,  but 
that  they  are  mainly  attributable  to  causes  within  con¬ 
trol,  and  to  which  a  remedy  might  be  applied.  It  would  be 
an  easy  task  to  enumerate  these  several  causes,  but  from 
the  absence  of  exact  information  it  would  be  difficult  to  as¬ 
sign  the  particular  cause  to  each  wreck.  It  might  have  been 
reasonably  expected  that  the  depositions  before  the  Iteceivers 
of  Admiralty  Droits  would  have  thrown  some  light  on  the 
subject,  but  those  documents  are  seldom  of  any  use  for 
ascertaining  the  real  cause  of  wreck.  The  master  of  the 
stranded  vessel  is  naturally  anxious  to  make  out  the  best 
case  for  himself,  and  usually  tells  as  little  as  he  can  help; 
and  the  receiver,  who  nine  times  out  of  ten  is  a  landsman, 
is  quite  unequal  to  bring  out  the  facts  of  the  case.  Some 
competent  local  tribunal,  then,  is  necessary  before  whom 
the  causes  might  be  investigated  on  the  spot,  and  there 
would  seem  no  difficulty  in  forming  such  a  tribunal;  it 
might  be  as  easily  managed  as  a  coroner’s  inquest;  the  ma¬ 
chinery  for  the  purpose  is  already  organized.  The  inspecting 
commander  of  the  Coast-guard  of  the  district,  the  collector 
or  chief  officer  of  customs,  and  Lloyd’s  agents,  are  to  be 
found  nearly  everywhere  around  the  coasts,  and  they  could 
form  a  tribunal  well  acquainted  with  nautical  affairs,  and 
in  which  all  merchants  and  ship-owners  would  have  con¬ 
fidence;  and  were  such  a  body,  with  the  assistance  of  the 
nearest  magistrate,  authorized  to  inquire  into  and  report 
39  * 


462 


ON  NAVAL  ARCHITECTURE  : 


to  the  Admiralty  or  Board  of  Trade  on  every  case  of  wreck, 
there  is  little  doubt  but  that  in  a  very  few  years  the  list 
of  wrecks  on  our  own  coasts  would  be  greatly  diminished. 
It  is  well  and  right  to  place  life-boats,  but  a  better  means 
of  preserving  life  would  be  to  prevent  or  diminish  ship- 
Avrecks. 

It  is  not  only  loss  of  life  to  a  fearful  extent  that  occurs 
in  these  wrecks,  but,  although  a  minor  consideration,  the 
loss  of  property  is  enormous.  In  the  Parliamentary  Report 
on  shipwrecks  of  the  year  1836,  the  loss  of  property  in 
British  shipping  wrecked  or  foundered  at  sea,  is  estimated, 
on  an  average  of  six  years,  at  three  millions  sterling  per 
annum;  we  may  fairly,  therefore,  assume,  that  half  that 
amount  is  annually  lost  on  our  own  coasts.  The  whole  of 
this  property,  though  covered  by  insurance  to  certain  par¬ 
ties,  is  not  the  less  absolutely  lost  to  the  nation,  and  its 
cost  paid  for  by  the  British  public,  on  whom  its  loss  must 
ultimately  fall.  The  same  Parliamentary  Beport  estimates 
the  annual  loss  of  life  by  the  wreck  or  foundering  of  British 
vessels  at  sea  at  1000  persons  in  each  year,  and  this  loss  is 
also  attended  with  increased  pecuniary  burthen  to  the  British 
public,  on  whom  the  support  of  many  of  the  widows  and 
orphans  left  destitute  by  such  losses  eventually  devolves. 
Thus,  taking  only  the  financial  view  of  the  case,  the  pre¬ 
vention  or  diminution  of  shipwreck  would  be  a  great  na¬ 
tional  gain. 


Conclusion. 

A  review  of  the  facts  furnished  by  the  Coast-guard  Re¬ 
turns  affords  a  cheering  encouragement  as  to  the  future, 
inasmuch  as  the  number  of  lives  saved  from  shipwreck 
through  the  instrumentality  of  life-boats,  mortars,  and 
rockets  (even  in  their  present  imperfect,  and,  on  many 
parts  of  the  coast,  ill-organized  state),  affords  undoubted 
proof  of  the  value  of  such  means  for  preserving  life. 
Wherever  the  boats  have  been  looked  after,  and  the  crews 
well  trained,  as  at  Liverpool,  Shields,  and  on  the  coasts  of 
Norfolk  and  Suffolk,  the  most  signal  success  has  rewarded 
their  exertions.  This  fact  is  most  encouraging,  and  cannot 
be  too  strongly  insisted  upon.  It  is  the  most  gratifying 


SHIPS,  STEAM-ENGINES,  AND  LIFE-BOATS.  4G3 

reward  to  the  several  local  committees  and  individuals  who 
have  perseveringly  done  their  duty,  and  gives  firm  ground 
of  encouragement  for  the  future. 

The  path,  then,  is  clear  and  distinct.  The  first  step  is  to 
insure  a  safe  and  powerful  life-boat,  and  this  we  feel  confi¬ 
dent  has  been  accomplished;  the  next  is  to  build  a  sufficient 
number  of  such  boats,  place  them  where  required,  organize 
and  train  the  crews,  and  provide  for  their  supervision  and 
maintenance.  In  fact,  to  do  for  the  rest  of  the  United 
Kingdom  what  his  Grace  the  Duke  of  Northumberland  has 
liberally  undertaken  to  do  for  his  own  county,  namely,  to 
place  a  well-built  life-boat  at  each  of  the  most  exposed  points 
of  the  coast,  and  rockets  or  mortars  at  all  the  intermediate 
stations. 

There  need  be  no  misgiving  for  want  of  funds — no  work 
of  real  benevolence  in  this  country,  when  undertaken  in  the 
right  spirit,  was  ever  allowed  to  languish  for  lack  of  means; 
and  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  cause  of  the  preserva¬ 
tion  of  life  from  shipwreck  will  not  find  equal  support.  It 
is  not  to  be  believed  that  the  British  public  will  quietly 
look  on  and  see  a  thousand  lives  annually  perish,  and  not 
make  an  effort  to  save  a  portion  of  that  number,  if  satisfied 
that  the  means  of  doing  so  are  within  their  reach.  Past 
experience  declares  that  the  means  are  within  our  reach. 
Nor  would  the  task  be  difficult:  the  question  has  only  to 
be  grappled  with  in  earnest,  and  all  obstacles  will  vanish. 
There  is  no  doubt  of  hearty  co-operation  along  the  whole 
of  our  coasts ;  all  that  local  committees  require  is  to  be 
well  directed,  and  to  be  enabled  to  place  entire  confidence 
in  those  who  undertake  to  guide  them. 

The  success  that  has  attended  exertions  in  one  place  may 
fairly  be  reckoned  upon  in  another.  There  seems  no  reason 
why  a  very  few  years  should  not  see  a  life-boat  stationed  at 
each  of  the  exposed  points  on  the  most  frequented  parts  of 
the  coasts  of  the  United  Kingdom;  by  means  of  which — 
with  the  blessing  of  Divine  Providence  upon  the  endeavours 
of  those  who  undertake  the  work — the  best  results  to  the 
cause  of  humanity  may  confidently  be  anticipated. 

March  3,  1852. 


THE  END. 


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